With guidance from the 2018 FSU iGEM team, we set out to find a problem, need, or curiosity in the world and explore it with synthetic biology. Since most members of our team are Florida natives, the effects of citrus greening have been evident for a while. Through our research, we found that citrus greening resulted in a $2.9 billion loss in revenue for orange growers in Florida from 2007 to 2014[1]. Florida is known for its endless beaches, verocious alligators, and sweet oranges. Since this disease affects our own home state, we decided amongst our team that this is what we should focus on. After visiting a citrus farm in Collier County and learning that the disease is prevalent in about 80% of their trees, we were even more so motivated to explore this issue. By using an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) cocktail from a variety of different sources, we hope to find a combination that responds well to C Liberibacter asiaticus, the bacteria that is causing greening. We will attempt to introduce the desired cocktail of AMPs by expressing it in yeast and hope that within the plant, it can help combat the bacteria.

[1]: The Associated Press (2019). Report: Breakthrough On Devastating Citrus Disease Unlikely.

To contact our team, email Roderick Meyer at rm16@my.fsu.edu