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Panama Disease - A Growing Threat to Worldwide Banana Production
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A variant of the fungal plant disease Fursarium wilt or Panama disease, which has been causing serious damage to banana crops in South-East Asia, has been found to have spread to Jordan, according to a new study in the journal Plant Disease. Panama disease is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). This development increases concerns that banana crops worldwide could be under threat, with the potential for devastating economic and human cost in areas including Latin America and Africa.

In the previous century, Foc ravaged banana plantations in Latin America, which were based on the ‘Gros Michel’ cultivar. This cultivar was replaced by Cavendish cultivars, which were resistant to Foc. However, in 1992 a new Foc variant termed tropical race 4 (TR4) was identified in South-East Asia which affects the Cavendish clones. TR4 has spread throughout the region and concern has grown that it may spread to other regions including Latin America and Africa. In Africa, bananas represent a vital dietary component and any threat to bananas would have huge consequences in terms of food security in the region.

The outbreak in Jordan was confirmed to be TR4 by the research group of Dr. Gert Kema of Plant Research International B.V/ Wageningen University in the Netherlands in collaboration with the University of Florida and centres in Jordan including Plant Protection (NCARE) and the University of Jordan. Selective culturing techniques followed by total DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed by the Dutch group on the Jordanian samples and the disease-causing agent was confirmed as TR4 after comparison to control samples. The researchers point out that this is the first confirmed outbreak of TR4 affecting Cavendish cultivars outside South-East Asia and is the most northerly outbreak. Some 80% of Jordanian banana plantations are now affected by Panama disease. Dr Kema is concerned at what this spread represents in terms of international banana cultivation and has stated that "A concerted international approach is now needed to prevent the spread of Panama disease and, in the worst-case scenario, contain it."

Sources

GARCIA, F.A., ORDONEZ, N., KONKOL, J., ALQASEM, M., NASER, Z., ABDELWALI, M., SALEM, N.M., WAALWIJK, C., PLOETZ, R.C. and KEMA, G., 2013. First Report of Fusarium oxysporumf. sp.cubenseTropical Race 4 associated with Panama Disease of banana outside Southeast Asia. Plant Disease, 2013: DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-09-13-0954-PDN

Wageningen University and Research Centre. "Banana disease spreading: Panama disease spreads among bananas again." ScienceDaily, 4 Nov. 2013. [Accessed 4 Nov. 2013].
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