SCIENTISTS from the University of Queensland have developed a way to combat myrtle rust using a spray containing RNA molecules.
Myrtle rust is a fungal disease that infects Australian native plants in the Myrtaceae family such as eucalypts, bottlebrush, paperbark, tea tree and lilly pilly.
It is found across Queensland including the local government areas of the Scenic Rim, Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast.
It affects many of the plants native animals rely on for their staple diet.
Developed in collaboration with Department of Agriculture forest pathologists, the spray induces RNA interference, a natural way to shut down protein translation.
This stops the spread of the disease through bushland, home gardens and nurseries.
Myrtle rust has been in Australia for a decade and within that time has acquired more than 350 native hosts.
“Of those plants that have been screened, only three percent were completely unable to be infected, and more than 40 species have been deemed conservation priorities because of damage from myrtle rust,” the university’s PhD candidate Rebecca Degnan said of the project.
Molecular plant biologist Dr Anne Sawyer said the team wanted to find an alternative myrtle rust control to fungicides.
“Growers rely heavily on fungicides, but they come with a lot of problems such as being harmful to humans and beneficial organisms like bees and monarch butterflies as well as [causing] water contamination,” Dr Sawyer said.
“Pests and pathogens can also develop resistance to chemicals and consumers are becoming more aware of residues on their fruit and vegetables.
“We already knew that RNA interference works against other plant pests and pathogens, and our research found rusts are very amenable to this method when we sprayed the double-stranded RNA onto the plants.”