The illness known as Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), which is caused by a fungal pathogen, is putting bananas in danger of becoming extinct in their functioning form. The good news is that recent ground-breaking research has been successful in casting some light on the matter. The researchers have discovered genes in the pathogen that create more of a substance known as nitric oxide when they are present. It is believed that this is what causes the illness to be so severe.
Find out more by reading on.
We now understand that Foc TR4 (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense/tropical race 4) was not developed from the particular strain that destroyed commercial banana crops back in the 1950s. Furthermore, the virulence of this new strain appears to be caused by some accessory genes that are associated with the production of nitric oxide. This information was obtained as a result of recent research conducted by a group of scientists from around the world who were led by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Additionally, it was shown that Foc TR4, which is the cause of the present outbreak of banana wilt, utilizes several accessory genes for the generation of fungal nitric oxide as well as the detoxification of this compound in order to infect the host with its presence.
It is quite fascinating that the researchers were able to collect 36 distinct strains of the fungus from all around the world. These strains include those that are known to target both the traditional Big Mike variety and the current crop.
When there’s no diversity in a huge commercial crop, it becomes an easy target for pathogens, next time you’re shopping for bananas, try some different varieties that might be available in your local specialty foods store, explained Li-Jun Ma, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at UMass Amherst and the paper’s senior author.
The Cavendish variety of banana, which was created as a resistant to disease response to the loss of the Gros Michel variety, is currently among the most popular types of bananas that are available on the market. The Cavendish banana flourished in the large monoculture farms that supplied nearly all of the world’s commercial banana crop for approximately forty years.
The paper was published in Nature Microbiology, and you can read more here.
