TropicSafe at the 2019 French Science Festival (Fête de la Science) edition in Guadeloupe

From the 9^th to the 15^th of November 2019, the French Science Festival, an annual event dedicated to the mediation and promotion of Science to the general public, held in Guadeloupe.

At this occasion, research actions conducted by Cirad to find solutions to the Huanglongbing (HLB) disease, including those of TropicSafe, were presented.

First, a ten pages comic-strip about the HLB produced by Cécile Morillon, the sister of Raphael Morillon, senior scientist at Cirad in Guadeloupe and member of the TropicSafe project. The cartoons present the disease, its origin, history, the infection and transmission mechanisms and the strategies currently tested by scientists to fight the disease and revitalize the citrus culture. TropicSafe and other projects, as a support of the scientific actions performed by Cirad, are acknowledged at the end in a cartoon. . The comic strip, that is right now only in French, is free, and can be read online at this link:

https://fr.calameo.com/read/0060879968af216461285?authid=ikGR7NYoZhUD

Five hundred copies of the comic strip were printed and distributed to pupils and their teacher at two sites:

• at the “science village”, on the Fouillole campus of the University of Antilles (Pointe-à-Pitre), the 13^th and 15^th November
• at the Open Day of the Cirad station of Neufchâteau (Capesterre Belle-Eau), the 14^th

A short radio report at the local radio channel “Guadeloupe La Première”, regarding this comic strip, was broadcasted the 14^th November. It include interviews of Cécile Morillon, the authors of the comic strip, and of Hervé Rabillé, Communication Manager at Cirad Guadeloupe. Excerpts of these interviews (in French) can be listened at the following link: https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/guadeloupe/quand-science-se-dit-s-imagine-771451.html.

Second, two posters (in French) presenting the current knowledge about the HLB and current research on its mechanisms were also displayed. These posters can be downloaded at these links:

• Poster: Étude tolérance HLB chez polyploïdes
• Poster: Le HLB dans le monde et les stratégies de lutte proposées 2