Orange crop production in the United States has dropped more than 5.5 million tons since 2007—mainly due to citrus greening, a plant disease caused by the bacterium Liberibacter asiaticus. The bacterium is difficult to study because it will not grow in a lab setting.

FSU biologist Kathryn Jones studied a sister bacterium—Liberacter cresens—that also has difficulties growing in labs. Findings showed that the bacteria themselves were changing the pH level of the solution they were being cultured in and then dying off as a result. This “extreme reaction demonstrate[s] just how intricate these bacteria are,” says Jones.

• Kathryn Jones