August 06, 2025
Scientific breakthrough: New hope to the dying olive trees fighting Xylella
August 06, 2025What could be a more glorious, healing statement than to know that a deadly bacterial illness is decimating the well-known olive grove...
What could be a more glorious, healing statement than to know that a deadly bacterial illness is decimating the well-known olive groves of Apulia in Italy and that there may be some hope. The pathogen Xylella fastidiosa subsp. thorns fiercely in the olive plant on the Agri land. It is a disease known as Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS), which occurs in Agrinion and has spread to several olive growing regions.
A risk to not only one industries, but a vital bit of cultural and ecological heritage, pauca (XFP) has threatened. The first identification of the bacterium in the region was made in 2013, and since then, it has been spreading and resulting in huge agricultural and economic losses. Pathogen colonizes vascular tissue of the tree and hinders the flow of water in the tree causing a roller of symptoms and the eventual mortality of the tree which include leaf scorch, wilting branches and finally, tree death.1. Promising Therapy for OQDS with Dentamet ®
The focal point of the research is a treatment referred to as Dentamet, which is an available biocomplex covering copper (2% w/w), zinc (4% w/w), and citric acid that can be detected in the market. It is not a cure which kills the pathogen, rather Dentamet works by assisting the tree to cope with the disease. Studies have demonstrated that its usage will cause reprogramming of certain metabolism pathways in the olive tree, which could cause a decrease in OQDS symptoms, and a better development of the complete crop. Copper and zinc ions are believed to disrupt the bacterium in its efforts to manufacture the exopolysaccharides it requires to create biofilm and propagate throughout the tree in its vascular system. In rigorously testing various application strategies on 150-year-old olive trees (Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardo ) the study revealed that the most important aspect in the success was the treatment schedule.Importance of Monthly Application
An endo-therapy (trunk injection) using high dose once per month dominated as a method given its strongest and most permanent influence on metabolism of trees. This way demonstrated good, enduring positive outcomes on 120 days of treatment and even after 180 days of treatment.Trumping Dosage
In contrast, high dose that is undertaken on a bimonthly (every other month) basis was noted to be very ineffective. That demonstrated a significantly less positive effect as when treated monthly, demonstrating that to receive permanent effect, frequent, regular treatment would be required to maintain the positive reaction of the plant. The findings indicate that desirable application strategy makes Dentamet really a heavyweight that may provoke favorable changes in metabolism and affect the evolution of the disease.2. Diagnosis of Efficacy of Treatment Using NMR Technology
Researchers wanted to see into the plant on a molecular level to find out whether the treatment was successful. They did so in a high-tech way called 1HNMR (Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) based metabolomics. Imagine it is a scan on the Hi-tech tree. The extracts of the olive leaves were rendered into a strong 600 MHz NMR spectrometer by the researchers and studied. The process provides a comprehensive snapshot of the chemicals including a list of hundreds of minor molecules or metabolites found in the leaves. This mass non-targeting method is a perfect overview of the metabolomic state of the tree. Because scientists were able to compare the fingerprints of treated and untreated trees after 60, 120 and 180 days:Monitor the Effect of Treatments Objectively
They would be able to measure objectively how Dentamet is changing the internal chemistry of the tree by monitoring the changes in vital metabolites in the plant.Health and Disease Patterns recognition
They could identify the patterns of health and disease by analyzing the multidimensional data using sophisticated statistical methods (i.e., PCA (Principal Component Analysis), OPLS-DA (Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis) to note the particular changes associated with the success of the treatment. This enabled them to compute a goodness of prediction score (Q2 value) that was able to statistically demonstrate how significantly a treatment was influencing the tree over that of a control that had not been treated. Use of such NMR based method proved to be a potent tool not only to confirm that the treatment was effective, but also would give detailed feedback to optimize the dosage and schedules to give an optimal response.3. Plant Metabolites and their usage as health/disease knowledge system
It was the secret of the olive trees that was found out with the help of the NMR scans. The particular metabolites which were modified as the result of the disease and the treatment served as "biomarkers," and narrated a vivid story of the overall health of the plant.Quinic Acid (The Disease Marker)
Through the study, quinic acid proved to be a major disease biomarker of OQDS. One particular outcome of the Dentamet treatment was decreased concentration of this compound in the leaves, and in particular, at the 60-day time point, giving a definitive chemical indication of a favorable reaction to the therapy.Oleuropein (The Defense Compound)
The compound is a natural, a self-defense secoiridoid in the olive trees in terms of stress. According to the research, Dentamet helps to activate the built-in defense mechanism of the tree because of the activation of the phenylpropanoid pathway, where oleuropein is produced. Its content in the treated trees rose over time indicating that the plant was putting up a greater defense.Mannitol (The Stress Shield)
Mannitol is a sugar alcohol, which enables the plants to withstand drought-stress a principal sign of ODQS as the bacteria impedes water-carrying tissues. Its variable concentrations displayed a complicated balance between the protective effects of the treatment increasing the resilience of the tree with the prevailing effects of the seasons because mannitol is naturally at its highest during the summer months. Monitoring the fold-change in these metabolites meant the study could not just see this change, but also prove quantifiably that Dentamet was enabling the preexisting systems in the tree to combat the damages of the disease.4. The advantage of Endo-therapy: It is safer, smarter means of treating
The fourth foundation of this effective tactic is the technique of administration: endo-therapy, which is just a trunk injection. This strategy is important due to the fact that:- It causes a systemic infection in the trees and is xylem-limited which implies that it lives in the water carrying veins of the trees.
- A Precision Strike: Topical sprays are not pinpoint since they might not deliver to the pathogen deep inside the vascular tissue. Endo-therapy resolves this, as it can bring Dentamet directly to the xylem, which means the medicine reaches the right place. TIPSys, a precision microinjection system that entails an arrowhead-style needle of bone thinness was used to avoid causing destructive harm to the trees.