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亚洲细菌威胁佛州橘树

Florida's citrus fruit industry is facing a serious threat from a bacteria carried by an Asian insect. The widespread infestation¹ again highlights the danger of transferring non-native species to American soil.

佛罗里达州的柑橘类水果产业正遭受一种亚洲细菌的威胁，这种细菌由一种叫做木虱的亚洲昆虫携带而来。大规模的细菌感染再一次突出了将外来物种带到美国的危险。

Citrus ranchers in Florida are burning orange trees damaged by a spotted² brown bug³ called psyllid. It is a native of Asia and carries what the Chinese call "the yellow dragon disease." Florida ranchers call it “greening.”

佛罗里达的柑橘种植者正在焚烧被叫做木虱的棕色虫子破坏了的橘子树。这是一种生长于亚洲的虫子，携带了中国人说的“黄龙病”。

While feeding on citrus leaves, the bug infests⁴ them with bacteria that clog⁵ the tree’s capillary⁶ system, slowly choking it to death. The fruit borne by the diseased plant is small, it falls off and the tree eventually dies.

这种虫子以柑橘树叶为食，它们携带的细菌阻塞柑橘树的毛细血管，使这些树木慢慢窒息而亡。生病的橘子树结出的果实很小，果实很快掉落，最后树木死亡。

No citrus-growing countries have developed a cure.

目前，还没有任何种植柑橘的国家找到解决办法。

Farmer Ellis Hunt is extremely frustrated⁷. “When you spend the money to raise it, and get it almost there, and it turns loose and hits the ground, that's ... a disaster. That's heartbreaking,” he said.

果农埃利斯?亨特感到非常沮丧。他说： “当你花大价钱种植的果树在快要丰收时，果实便枯萎掉到地上，这是一场灾难，令人心疼。”

To make matters worse, Florida’s $9-billion citrus growing industry, second only to Brazil, is fighting growing foreign competition and declining sales due to U.S. consumers' growing aversion to sugar and carbohydrates⁸.

更糟糕的是，仅次于巴西的佛罗里达90亿美元的柑橘种植业，在抵抗日益激烈的国际竞争的同时，还要面对国内销售下降的问题，因为美国消费者对糖和碳水化合物越来越反感。

The industry's 75,000 jobs depend on finding a cure to the disease.

能否找到解决这种虫害的方法，关系到该产业七万五千个工作岗位。

At the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Center, some of the world’s best botanists⁹ and entomologists are trying to save the existing trees, grow new ones resistant¹⁰ to the bacterium¹¹, and make the insect incapable¹² of transmitting the disease.

在佛罗里达大学的柑橘研究和教育中心，一些世界顶尖的植物学家和昆虫学家正尝试着拯救现存的树木，培育能够抵抗这种细菌的新树种，以及使这些虫子没有能力传播疾病。

Entomologist Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski said the problem is keeping her awake at night.

昆虫学家柯尔斯顿·佩尔兹-斯特林斯基说，这个难题使她夜不能寐。

“It's something I think about every day. I think about it at night when I'm supposed to be sleeping. It's a huge problem, and we need to come up with as many tools as we can,” she said.

斯特林斯基说：“这是我每天都会思考的问题。晚上本该睡觉了，可是我还在想。这是一个很大的问题，我们需要想出尽可能多的办法。”

Pelz-Stelinski said it may take as long as five years to come up with a way to make the psyllid bug free of the dangerous bacteria.

佩尔兹-斯特林斯基说，找到使木虱不再携带这种危险细菌的办法可能需要长达五年的时间。

In the meantime, botanists are experimenting with grafting¹³ as a way to keep the existing trees alive, while citrus farmers try to control the disease by spraying the trees and feeding them with nutrients¹⁴ -- added expenses that further shrink their income.

植物学家目前正试验使用嫁接的办法使现存的树木存活下来，而柑橘种植者们试图以喷洒农药和补充营养的方式来控制树木的疾病。可是，这意味着支出更多、收入更少。