A biomathematical model for Phoma tracheiphila citrus resistance screening

Abstract

The causal agent of Mal Secco, Phoma tracheiphila, is responsible for many important losses in the Citrus crop worldwide. The resistance enhancement of Citrus susceptible to the pathogen infection depends on the availability of a valid test for disease assessment. However, the resistance analysis tests used give controversial results. In this paper, we propose a new mathematical model to conduct a rapid and efficient resistance screening test. This model has the advantage to give a strict evaluation of the resistance and not a relative estimation as in the usual tests. The results obtained by this model are in concordance with those observed in the orchards.