Bahder Lab - Vector Entomology

ML is a lethal wilt of oil palms in South America.  The disease causes rapid decline is is responsible for significant economic losses.  Very little is know about ML.  Initially it was believed to be caused by a phytoplasma but this far, not phytoplasma has been isolated from infected palms.  The current research effort in collaboration with Cenipalma in Colombia is identification of the causal agent using metagenomics.