“BeXyl Project: collaborating for the early detection of Xylella fastidiosa” is the title of the seminar organized by the South American Botanic Gardens Network (Red Sudamericana de Jardines Botánicos, RSAJB). The BeXyl coordinator Blanca B. Landa and Juan A. Navas-Cortés from IAS-CSIC, together with Ana Pérez-Sierra from Forestry Research, will present BeXyl and its initiatives involving botanical gardens and arboretums in the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) network. The talk will take place on February 23 at 6:00 p.m. local time in Spain via Zoom, in Spanish.

BGCI is one of the key members of the BeXyl consortium, as it can provide critical information for research through the International Plant Sentinel Network (IPSN). The network of botanical gardens and arboretums located in areas where X. fastidiosa is autochthonous will help to characterize the potential range of host plants for the different subspecies of this bacterium present in these regions. That would allow a better assessment of the possible impacts of the introduction of strains of X. fastidiosa not yet detected in the European Union (EU) or the Mediterranean, as well as the threat of the spread of the pathogen from the EU to the North and the potential risk for the main cultivated and native forest species of the EU.

The BGCI network members are an added value for the BeXyl Project also because of their contribution to raising citizens’ awareness. Disseminating information on the diseases associated with X. fastidiosa, the host plants, the symptoms and the possible vector insects to the general public is critical for early detection and curbing the bacterium’s spread.