Abstract
The disease outbreak of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca strain CoDiRO (Complesso del Disseccamento Rapido dell’Olivo) in Salento (Apulia, South Italy) associated with severe cases of olive quick decline syndrome may represent not just a new disease paradigm, but a challenge for policy formulation and science communication in plant pathology. Plant health management can be achieved by applying a technocratic model, in which objective science is thought to directly inform policy-making, or via decisionistic or inclusive models, in which scientific considerations drive risk assessment. Each could be applied to X. fastidiosa and CoDiRO strain management, thanks to consistent literature related to pathogen/host interactions, hosts, vectors, and diagnostic tools, reviewed here. However, consensus among stakeholders seems to be necessary in order to avoid plant health management failures or gridlocks, due to environmental, economic, and social implications in the X. fastidiosa threat. Here we discuss the role of consensus in building scientific opinion, reporting different approaches of governance after severe disease outbreaks in Europe. These case studies, and the available risk analysis for Xylella strains, should drive policy formulations towards more cooperative networks.
Highlights
The impact of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca strain CoDiRO (Complesso del Disseccamento Rapido dell’Olivo, or olive quick decline syndrome—OQDS) [1,2] in Europe was unprecedented due to the specific characteristic of the host, the olive tree of Salento (Apulia region, Italy)
In the case of CoDiRO, while scientific opinions for X. fastidiosa can be built on solid scientific literature, its management policy was still not fully solved, and difficulties in science communication may have played a significant role
Reports of meetings, news, and published literature were distributed through a website that acted as an accumulating warehouse of public information and provided a one-stop site for stakeholders [8]
Summary
While X. fastidiosa seems able to infect more than 350 plant species, 22 of them were found to be infected by the CoDiRO strain [9]. Dicots, conifers, palms, and succulent plants were not found to be infected by the CoDiRO strain [43,44]. Was not yet considered a pest for grape Grapevine was not found naturally infected by the CoDiRO strain, regardless of the proximity of cultivation with infected olive trees [45]. Difficulties in providing evidence about this hitherto unknown pathogen/vector/host interaction and the notice of recovery of X. fastidiosa DNA in inoculated grapevine plants with the CoDiRO strain even 12 months after inoculation did not exclude Vitis spp. infection without further experimental trials [45]
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