Bioterror: The green menace

Huanglongbing is a bacterial infection that spreads from tree to tree via citrus psyllids, draining nutrients from the plant and resulting in diminutive green fruits, thinning branches and eventually death of the tree. The bacterium that causes the disease, Candidatus Liberibacter, is considered the most dangerous citrus pathogen in the world and may have disastrous effects on the nation's economy. Federal Bureau of Investigation, install extra security outside the labs, as a terrorist-spread epidemic of huanglongbing, could kill millions of trees and rattle consumer confidence and are considered bioterror agents. The pathogen's select-agent status may also discourage promising young scientists because the restrictions slow down the progress of research.