Researchers use phages to eradicate disease caused by Xylella Fastidiosa in grapevines

A research team from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, has created a cocktail of four different phages (viruses of bacteria) which they used to treat grapevines affected by Pierce’s Disease (PD). The disease is caused by the Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) bacterium that has attacked olive groves and devastated the olive crop in the Puglia region of Italy.