A high-throughput pipeline for isolation and screening of the citrus bacteriome identifies Pseudomonas chlororaphis with anti-Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus activity.

Pseudomonas chlororaphis produces phenazine-1-carboxamide that inhibits Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, showing comparable activity to oxytetracycline in citrus assays.

• Why it matters: Huanglongbing (HLB) causes significant citrus crop losses with no current cure, highlighting the need for new biocontrol strategies. Identifying native microbiome bacteria with anti-Liberibacter activity could offer sustainable disease mitigation options.
• What they did: A high-throughput pipeline coupled microfluidic isolation and antimicrobial screening using Liberibacter crescens to identify 35 bacteria with inhibitory activity, focusing on P. chlororaphis SRAM11 for further analysis.
• The result: Phenazine-1-carboxamide from P. chlororaphis significantly inhibits C. Las in vitro and ex vivo citrus assays, suggesting its potential as a biocontrol agent for HLB management.