Conduct further research about Fusarium wilt and what the experts think the threat poses to the world's crops. How does this situation compare with the Irish potato famine in the 1840's? What are banana growers going to do about it?
Fusarium wilt or Panamá Disease (1) is a highly infectious fungal disease that attacks bananas. It first became an epidemic in Panamá in 1980 (1). Some symptoms are the yellowing of banana plants leaves and the change of color in bananas itself (1). Fusarium wilt poses a big threat to all banana plantations that generate 4-billion dollars each year (2). There is no particular cure yet but some effective treatments have been developed. Robert. T Del Fierro, the president of Delfi Agriventures corporation has discovered friendly agri-chemical products that help reduce the effect of this disease (3). By applying Agrimin to infected plantations, effects of the fungus have been reduced by more or less 50 percent in just 2 months (3). Other treatments are also being applied but it is too early to see if the results are effective. The disease however has destroyed significant amounts of plantations, which worries many others and some even predict that it will soon reach the western hemisphere (2) On the other side, the irish potato famine killed merely 2-3 of the potato crops in ireland (4) and was, in my opinión a more significant threat. However, if cures for this new fungal disease are not discovered banana plantations will be in serious trouble and so will the the economy and wealth they generate. More studies should be made as soon as possible to resolve this issue.
Sources
1- http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Plant_Pest/786.pdf Fusarium Wilt of Bananas, Department of Primary industry, Fisheries and mines. 2- Worksheet we received. A blight of unusual Character.
In Latin America, Fusarium wilt is also known as the Panama disease. It is said to infect the plants roots and later extends throughout the vascular system, completely damaging the entire plant and its fruits. The plant is affected in such a drastic way that it the damage cannot be reversed, nor treated because the only chemicals that can cure it are incredible dangerous to our environment. Most of the time the contaminated soil cannot be used to grow banana plants anymore.
This plant disease is said to have started in Latin American around the 1950s. During this time banana plantations were destroyed completely. So, banana farmers had to stop growing Gros Michael (a kind of banana), and thankfully a new banana called Cavendish was beginning to show that it was not affected by Fusarium. The only problem was that Cavendish was not as good quality as the Gros Michael bananas. They had different size and taste. This disease has advanced quickly throughout countries like; Latin America, Africa, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines and Australia. This is terrible because it has caused economic problems for many workers and their families. Landowners have been affected as well. This disease has been so hard to control because it is spread through soil, water and apparently even through air.
The effect Fusarium is having now a days, can be compared to the Great Famine suffered in Ireland during the 1840s. This terrible moment in the Irish history was also called the Irish Potato Famine. It was remembered by this particular name because in that time much of the population depended on potato. This potato blight, caused millions of people to die, because if the major cash crop is infected work declines, and if work declines then tons of families are left without food. Approximately one million people emigrated to the United States trying to find a better life. The same thing is occurring in Latin American and other countries, where Fusarium is affecting banana today. Millions have not died, but people are jobless because of this terrible situation, which means that people are struggling to survive in these third world countries.
It is essential to find a cure to a solution to this problem. People not only depend on banana crops for their personal survival, but also to provide for their families. I can’t imagine a world in which bananas were no longer a fruit available at any supermarket. I think a possible solution might be to invest in research and come up with a hybrid banana that can avoid being contaminated by this disease. If scientists can make an artificial heart, then it is possible to make a special banana species that can withstand this specific disease and perhaps any other one in the future.
Fusarium wilt, also known as Panama disease, is a lethal fungal disease caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum cubense. The fungus infects the plant entering through the roots and colonizing the xylem vessels and blocking the flow of water and nutrients. It affects the plant in the collapse of leaves at the petiole, the splitting of the pseudo stem base and eventually the plant dies. The fungus can stay in soil for many years and cannot be treated with chemical pesticides. The only option for continued long-term banana production in infested soils is replacing susceptible cultivars by resistant ones. Fusarium wilt is the first disease of bananas to have spread globally. The various strains of the fungus that are pathogenic to bananas are classified into races based on the different response of the plant. The race concept has been criticized for being an imperfect measure of pathogenic diversity, but it is still considered useful to describe the reaction and new disease outbreaks. http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=Fusarium+wilt
It is the same as the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s because it started in one place but it expanded to be a global problem for the farmers. It was also e very difficult problem to get rid of it was not only expensive but it was also hard to get rid of the disease. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland_great_famine_of_1845.htm
They’re a lot of growing commitment among agencies and organization to alert the people and also to help them get rid of the disease. There are also farmers that claiming to have emasculated the disease in the plants and now are watching the re growth of a new healthy plant.
Fusarium oxysporum most commonly known as Fusarium wilt is fungus that when infects crops. The symptoms are yellowing and stunting of older plants and yellowing, stunting, and death of seedlings. According to ProMusa, the disease is soil-born, the fungus enters the plant through the roots and colonizes the xylem vessels (vessels that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant) thereby blocking the flow of water and nutrients. The fungus spreads threw the soil, seedlings of already infected plants, and threw pollen (a citizen of eRepublik). The Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (Jan 2014), the most effective way to protect from the disease, is to prevent the infection by fumigating with METHYL BROMIDE. This only prevents the disease from occurring, but once the fungus has infected the crops the only way of controlling it is by planting banana crops that are resistant to the fungus. Scientist such as ACL Churchill are working on a new hybrid plant that will be immune to both races one and four. The Fusarium wilt compares to the Irish Potato famine in that both the Fusarium wilt and the Potato Blight where caused by a fungus. The fuguses infected the root system of the crop and then infected the entire plant. On the other hand Fusarium wilt does not compare to the Irish potato famine in the Historical sense. The Irish potato famine caused a grand travesty and no one knew why or how all the potatoes where dying. The Fusarium wilt scientist are discovering new ways to be able to prevent this fungus from infecting and causing sizable damage, like the Irish potato famine. Reverend Dr. Miles J. Berkeley
Ploetz RC, ACL Churchill. 2011. Fusarium wilt: the banana disease that refuses to go away. http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT06.HTM (2011) http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/affects-of-fusarium-wilt-and-bacterial-wilt-on-various-horticultural-crops--1178866/1/20 (day 803) http://www.mapoflife.org/topics/topic_450_Xylem-vessels-in-vascular-plants/ (definition of Xylem vessels) http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r280100811.html (Jan 8, 2014) http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/Irish_potato_famine.cfm (revised on Feb 2014) http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=Fusarium+wilt (Last revised on Jan 2014)
Fusarium Wilt is a fungal disease, which commonly infects tomatoes, potatoes, and bananas crops. Fusarium wilt attacks the vascular passages walls, isolating growing tissue, drying leaves, and desiccating stems and branches. It starts as slight vein clearing on outer leaflets and drooping of leaf petioles.( Royal Horticultural Society, Fusarium wilts) The entire plat may be killed before it reaches maturity as later the lower leaves wilt later turn yellow and die. Some symptoms of this disease are wilting, chlorosis, necrosis, premature leaf drop, browning of the vascular system, stunting, and damping-off. (Laura Reynolds, Fusarium & Vercilium Wilt) This disease is currently infecting in some banana crops’ area, but it hasn’t reached to the point of the “Great Famine” or Irish potato famine where about 1 million of people died and another million emigrated from Ireland because of its potato crop failure thus starvation among the population. Banana growers might start by removing the affected crop from their gardens so that the fungus wilts don’t spread. Banana growers can as well burn down the infected plant material, killing the fungus with it. Another great thing to do is to spread a sheet of 1.5 or 2 mill-thick black plastic over the plot so it contacts the soil all across the plot by first cultivating garden soil and break up clods, raking the soil flat and water the garden deeply. Then leave the plastic on the plot for six to eight weeks; plant wilt-resistant varieties after removing the cover to deny any remaining fungi a home.
"Fusarium wilts." . Royal Horticultural Society, 8 Apr 2011. Web. 2 Feb 2011. . "Fusarium Wilt And Its Effect On Bananas." The New York Botanical Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. . "UC Pest Management Guidelines." Fusarium Wilt. N.p., n.d. Web. .
In the potato Irish famine, altogether, about a million people in Ireland are estimated to have died of starvation and epidemic disease between 1846 and 1851, and some two million emigrated in a period of a little more than a decade (1845-55) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml). Comparison with other modern would fall short to the destruction, but, in the 1950s, the bananas exported from Central America were in great danger. It was then that vascular wilt, a disease that attacks through the vascular system and ultimately kills by dehydration, reached epidemic proportions (http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/fusarium.asp.html). Bacterial wilt is caused by Ralstonia solanacearum (http://www.pjp.pakps.com/files/11-20-irfan-paper.pdf). Scientist have come to the conclusion that Crop rotation and genetic resistance reduce risk of damage from Fusarium wilt in lettuce, which might just help advancement in reduction in all crops affected by wilt (http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org/landingpage.cfm?articleid=ca.v066n01p20&fulltext=yes). Also, catching the signs of infection early might just save lives. In bananas, the first symptoms of an infected banana are reddish-brown discoloration in the roots.
The Fusarium fungi has created a huge widespread issues with banana plantations. This disease for fruits is closely related to the problem with sweet potatoes back in the 1940s because they are both causes by the same Fusarium species but in this case instead of the disease being F. oxysporum f. sp. batatas for potatoes, it's F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense for bananas (wikipedia, Fusarium wilt). The "cubense" type of the disease affecting banas is also called the "Panama disease", this disease has caused the banana plantation and distribution to be reduced because the banana production is being greatly reduced because of this disease. Fusarium has caused the banas to wilt and die, attacking the young roots of bananas. What can scientists do about it? Well there's always pesticides but that's bad for us humans. As a start, I would tell scientists to begin to research more of this fungi. making new research and seeing what chemicals can affect it, and maybe eventually genetically modifying the banana so it doesn't wilt and die at the hands of this disease. Always keeping in mind the consumers, we must find a way to make this pesticide or resolution of the issue, whatever it may be, unharmful to humans.
Fusarium wilt is an old disease, originated in Southeast Asia. It affected commercial productions in the Americas. It was thought that resistant cultivars were going to solve the issue. However, it has become apparent in the last few decades that the disease again threatens not only the production of dessert bananas, but also of plantains and locally- preferred fruit of other cultivars. Fusarium wilt, is caused by the fungal pathogen called Fusarium oxysporum [David R. Jones, 2013] It is also called Panama disease. Its effect over plants starts by entering through plants’ young roots. Infected plants are usually stunted; their leaves turn pale green to golden yellow and later wilt, wither, die, and drop off progressively upward from the stem base. Dark streaks occur in vascular tissue (xylem) of the roots and lower stem, while roots may decay and seedlings sometimes wilt and die. Fusaria can live indefinitely in soil without access to living host plants. [Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2014] In the 1840s a new disease showed up in Europe. The Irish potato famine, or in its scientific name Phytophthora infestans still lives until this day. Compared to Fusarium wilt, this disease has been regulated. However, it continues being a threat. [James Ayre, 2014] They are both a “blight of unusual character” which devastate many crops. The Irish potato famine turns slimy, decaying, blackish, and very similar to the effects that Fusarium wilt causes. [Digital History, Feb. 26th, 2014]. In other words both diseases are dreadful for the economy, the production of vegetables, and a challenge for scientists. There are websites where people ask about how to cure Fusarium wilt, but in reality there is no cure, and since it persists into soil for years, it can be very hard to eradicate. Some home remedies like adding lime to soil and increasing the pH scale may help treat it. [Marie Iannotti, 2014] Banana growers are thinking about using hydroponic systems. Gene transformation techniques have also been used in attempts to improve the resistance of banana to Fusarium wilt. In Australia, embryogenic cell suspensions of the banana cultivar have been transformed with genes that negatively regulate programmed cell death. It is argued that the prevention of cell death is important as the fungus feeds on decaying tissue. In other words scientists are trying to attack this disease by genetically fortifying the plants’ structure. However, the results of field trials, which are essential to confirm resistance, have not yet been reported. [ David R. Jones, 2014]
Sources Jones, David. R. "Emerging Banana diseases." Acorbat Brasil 2013. International REUNION , 113 september 2013. Web. 26 Feb 2014. http://www.cnpmf.embrapa.br/publicacoes/ACORBAT2013/Paletras_Acorbat2013/8%20EmergingBananaProblems.pdf
Chauhan , Yamini. "Fusarium wilt." Encyclopedia britannica. The EDITORS, 27 Jun 2013. Web. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/222756/Fusarium-wilt
"The Irish Potato Famine." Digital History . N.p., 26 Feb 2014. Web. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/Irish_potato_famine.cfm
Iannotti, Marie. "about.com Gardening." Symptoms and Control of Fusarium Wilt in Tomatoes. N.p., n.d. Web. http://gardening.about.com/od/problemspest1/a/Fusarium-Wilt-Of-Tomatoes_2.htm
Blog: A Blight of Unusual Character Through out many years banana plantations have been known to be very fragile. This is due to the fact that fungus like the Fusarium Wilt is spread very easily and hard to eradicate form an area. According to the article written in the RHS website “The Fusarium Wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease”. According to The Ohio State University Extension article “The fungus get into the plants organism through the young roots of the plants”. What this fungus does is that it blocks the water carrying vessels inside the bananas. Without water the bananas will in fact die. There are some symptoms that identify this disease like: stunted growth, yellowing and wilting of the leaves, root or stem decay, etc. On the other side there was a similar fungus that attacked the Irish potato production. It was called “The Irish Potato Famine”. As the name implies it attacked the potato plantations located in Ireland. In the article published by digitalhistory.uh.edu the fungus made potatoes (a common food in Ireland) become a slimy, decaying, blackish “mass of rottenness”. People who ate this got diseases like cholera, dysentery, scurvy, etc. Today farmers have ways to get rid of the Fusarium Wilt. A way they prevent getting the fungus is by putting fungicide on the seed so that the fungus doesn’t grow if there is any. According to the article written on UC IPM Online website; once the plants are already infected farmers use nitrate nitrogen to kill the fungus or the do the process of Liming the soil.
Sources: Sally A. Miller Randall C. Rowe Richard M. Riedel, . "OhioLine." Fact Sheet. N.p.. Web. 26 Feb 2014. . "Digital History." The Irish Potato Famine. N.p., 26 february 2014. Web. 26 Feb 2014. . "UC IPM Online." UC Pest Management Guidelines. N.p., n.d. Web. .
Conduct further research about Fusarium wilt and what the experts think the threat poses to the world's crops. How does this situation compare with the Irish potato famine in the 1840's? What are banana growers going to do about it?
The fungal genus Fusarium is one that causes severe diseases on plants(Thomas A.Zittter, Cornell). The Fusarium wilt of banana caused by Fusarium oxysporum was first found in Panama around 1890s, and that is why it is commonly referred to as Panama disease. The disease is widespread in tropical regions, where bananas grow, and it is one of the most lethal plant diseases in the world. The first appearance of Fusarium wilt on the Cavendish cultivar in Taiwan was noticed in 1967, after that it has been reported in many places in the Eastern Hemisphere.(Shin-Chuan Hwang and Wen-Hsiung Ko). While the disease is immune to pesticides, scientists are working on a way to save the world’s bananas(since the majority of the world’s bananas are Cavendish). Various methods have been tested to reduce the pathogen in the field. Measures such as soil amendment with urea and rotation with paddy rice were effective, but none were commercially viable. In order to avoid the wilt more than one million Cavendish banana plants have been produced by tissue culture every year in Taiwan since 1984 in order to generate variation for selection of “commercially acceptable wilt resistant cultivars of Giant Cavendish”(Shin-Chuan Hwang and Wen-Hsiung Ko). Basically scientists are looking for mutations of the species that are resistant to the wilt in order to clone them and have crops that are fusarium resistant. Scientists have isolated Trichoderma spp. from the rhizosphere of banana from different areas of India for its potential against Fusarium oxysporum. The trichoderma harzianum isolate Th-10 was the most effective in inhibiting the growth of fusarium in vitro.(R.Thangavelu) The Irish potato famine in the 1840s was caused by a severe blight starting in the year 1836. The potato famine was not caused by the Fusarium wilt, instead it was caused by the fungus Phytophora infestants.(Cambridge eLife journal)
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Cucurbits_Fusarium.htm Cornell, 1998. http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PDIS.2004.88.6.580 June 2004 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788090300358X June 2004 http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1305/1305.4206.pdf Cambridge, May 2013
Fusarium wilt, aka Panama disease, is a deadly fungal disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. The fungus enters through the roots and colonizes the xylem causing a blockage so that nutrients and water getting through. The fungus can be in the soil for many years and even cannot be managed using chemical pesticides. The fungus is the first disease of bananas to have spread globally. The fungus causes discoloration, wilting and eventually kills the plant. The discoloration varies from pale yellow, dark red and even black. The fungus is spread through infected planting material, water, and soil. The best option in preventing the fungus is to replace the already infested soil with susceptible cultivars by resistant ones. It cannot be controlled by fungicides and cannot be fumigated. One way to minimize the movement of the fungus is to use surface sterilants. (N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .) This fungus effects primarily in Latin America but is commonly found along equator all over the world. The first case was reported in Australia although the fungus was originated in south Asia. This fungus effects many banana growers in Latin America and can be compared, although slightly, to the Potato famine in Ireland in 1840. The famine killed 1.5 million people because the Irish depended almost solely on the potato. When the blight hit, the population didn’t know what was happening and lost all of their crops and what they had in storage. A famine will not happen in todays day and age because our population today depends on more than one crop and it is easier for us to import and export goods. Also, we have more ways to know what is going on and find more ways to prevent and stop the movement of the blight. ("The The Irish Potato Famine, 1847." The The Irish Potato Famine, 1847. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .)
Adrian V.
ReplyDeleteA Threat to all our Bananas
Fusarium wilt or Panamá Disease (1) is a highly infectious fungal disease that attacks bananas. It first became an epidemic in Panamá in 1980 (1). Some symptoms are the yellowing of banana plants leaves and the change of color in bananas itself (1). Fusarium wilt poses a big threat to all banana plantations that generate 4-billion dollars each year (2).
There is no particular cure yet but some effective treatments have been developed. Robert. T Del Fierro, the president of Delfi Agriventures corporation has discovered friendly agri-chemical products that help reduce the effect of this disease (3). By applying Agrimin to infected plantations, effects of the fungus have been reduced by more or less 50 percent in just 2 months (3). Other treatments are also being applied but it is too early to see if the results are effective. The disease however has destroyed significant amounts of plantations, which worries many others and some even predict that it will soon reach the western hemisphere (2)
On the other side, the irish potato famine killed merely 2-3 of the potato crops in ireland (4) and was, in my opinión a more significant threat. However, if cures for this new fungal disease are not discovered banana plantations will be in serious trouble and so will the the economy and wealth they generate. More studies should be made as soon as possible to resolve this issue.
Sources
1- http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Plant_Pest/786.pdf Fusarium Wilt of Bananas, Department of Primary industry, Fisheries and mines.
2- Worksheet we received. A blight of unusual Character.
3-http://www.edgedavao.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5330:panama-disease-solution-discovered&catid=34:the-economy&Itemid=68 Panamá disease solution discovered?
4- http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/famine/blight.html The Famine 1:potato blight.
In Latin America, Fusarium wilt is also known as the Panama disease. It is said to infect the plants roots and later extends throughout the vascular system, completely damaging the entire plant and its fruits. The plant is affected in such a drastic way that it the damage cannot be reversed, nor treated because the only chemicals that can cure it are incredible dangerous to our environment. Most of the time the contaminated soil cannot be used to grow banana plants anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis plant disease is said to have started in Latin American around the 1950s. During this time banana plantations were destroyed completely. So, banana farmers had to stop growing Gros Michael (a kind of banana), and thankfully a new banana called Cavendish was beginning to show that it was not affected by Fusarium. The only problem was that Cavendish was not as good quality as the Gros Michael bananas. They had different size and taste. This disease has advanced quickly throughout countries like; Latin America, Africa, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines and Australia. This is terrible because it has caused economic problems for many workers and their families. Landowners have been affected as well. This disease has been so hard to control because it is spread through soil, water and apparently even through air.
The effect Fusarium is having now a days, can be compared to the Great Famine suffered in Ireland during the 1840s. This terrible moment in the Irish history was also called the Irish Potato Famine. It was remembered by this particular name because in that time much of the population depended on potato. This potato blight, caused millions of people to die, because if the major cash crop is infected work declines, and if work declines then tons of families are left without food. Approximately one million people emigrated to the United States trying to find a better life. The same thing is occurring in Latin American and other countries, where Fusarium is affecting banana today. Millions have not died, but people are jobless because of this terrible situation, which means that people are struggling to survive in these third world countries.
It is essential to find a cure to a solution to this problem. People not only depend on banana crops for their personal survival, but also to provide for their families. I can’t imagine a world in which bananas were no longer a fruit available at any supermarket. I think a possible solution might be to invest in research and come up with a hybrid banana that can avoid being contaminated by this disease. If scientists can make an artificial heart, then it is possible to make a special banana species that can withstand this specific disease and perhaps any other one in the future.
Sources:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/irishfamine.htm
http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/php/management/bananapanama/
Fusarium wilt, also known as Panama disease, is a lethal fungal disease caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum cubense. The fungus infects the plant entering through the roots and colonizing the xylem vessels and blocking the flow of water and nutrients. It affects the plant in the collapse of leaves at the petiole, the splitting of the pseudo stem base and eventually the plant dies. The fungus can stay in soil for many years and cannot be treated with chemical pesticides. The only option for continued long-term banana production in infested soils is replacing susceptible cultivars by resistant ones. Fusarium wilt is the first disease of bananas to have spread globally.
ReplyDeleteThe various strains of the fungus that are pathogenic to bananas are classified into races based on the different response of the plant. The race concept has been criticized for being an imperfect measure of pathogenic diversity, but it is still considered useful to describe the reaction and new disease outbreaks.
http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=Fusarium+wilt
It is the same as the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s because it started in one place but it expanded to be a global problem for the farmers. It was also e very difficult problem to get rid of it was not only expensive but it was also hard to get rid of the disease.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland_great_famine_of_1845.htm
They’re a lot of growing commitment among agencies and organization to alert the people and also to help them get rid of the disease. There are also farmers that claiming to have emasculated the disease in the plants and now are watching the re growth of a new healthy plant.
http://www.agnet.org/activities.php?func=view&id=20130313162438
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/weekend-davao/2013/07/27/farmers-see-relief-fusarium-wilt-294750
Fusarium oxysporum most commonly known as Fusarium wilt is fungus that when infects crops. The symptoms are yellowing and stunting of older plants and yellowing, stunting, and death of seedlings. According to ProMusa, the disease is soil-born, the fungus enters the plant through the roots and colonizes the xylem vessels (vessels that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant) thereby blocking the flow of water and nutrients. The fungus spreads threw the soil, seedlings of already infected plants, and threw pollen (a citizen of eRepublik).
ReplyDeleteThe Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (Jan 2014), the most effective way to protect from the disease, is to prevent the infection by fumigating with METHYL BROMIDE. This only prevents the disease from occurring, but once the fungus has infected the crops the only way of controlling it is by planting banana crops that are resistant to the fungus. Scientist such as ACL Churchill are working on a new hybrid plant that will be immune to both races one and four.
The Fusarium wilt compares to the Irish Potato famine in that both the Fusarium wilt and the Potato Blight where caused by a fungus. The fuguses infected the root system of the crop and then infected the entire plant. On the other hand Fusarium wilt does not compare to the Irish potato famine in the Historical sense. The Irish potato famine caused a grand travesty and no one knew why or how all the potatoes where dying. The Fusarium wilt scientist are discovering new ways to be able to prevent this fungus from infecting and causing sizable damage, like the Irish potato famine. Reverend Dr. Miles J. Berkeley
Ploetz RC, ACL Churchill. 2011. Fusarium wilt: the banana disease that refuses to go away.
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT06.HTM (2011)
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/affects-of-fusarium-wilt-and-bacterial-wilt-on-various-horticultural-crops--1178866/1/20 (day 803)
http://www.mapoflife.org/topics/topic_450_Xylem-vessels-in-vascular-plants/ (definition of Xylem vessels)
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r280100811.html (Jan 8, 2014)
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/Irish_potato_famine.cfm (revised on Feb 2014)
http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=Fusarium+wilt (Last revised on Jan 2014)
Fusarium Wilt
ReplyDeleteFusarium Wilt is a fungal disease, which commonly infects tomatoes, potatoes, and bananas crops. Fusarium wilt attacks the vascular passages walls, isolating growing tissue, drying leaves, and desiccating stems and branches. It starts as slight vein clearing on outer leaflets and drooping of leaf petioles.( Royal Horticultural Society, Fusarium wilts) The entire plat may be killed before it reaches maturity as later the lower leaves wilt later turn yellow and die. Some symptoms of this disease are wilting, chlorosis, necrosis, premature leaf drop, browning of the vascular system, stunting, and damping-off. (Laura Reynolds, Fusarium & Vercilium Wilt) This disease is currently infecting in some banana crops’ area, but it hasn’t reached to the point of the “Great Famine” or Irish potato famine where about 1 million of people died and another million emigrated from Ireland because of its potato crop failure thus starvation among the population.
Banana growers might start by removing the affected crop from their gardens so that the fungus wilts don’t spread. Banana growers can as well burn down the infected plant material, killing the fungus with it. Another great thing to do is to spread a sheet of 1.5 or 2 mill-thick black plastic over the plot so it contacts the soil all across the plot by first cultivating garden soil and break up clods, raking the soil flat and water the garden deeply. Then leave the plastic on the plot for six to eight weeks; plant wilt-resistant varieties after removing the cover to deny any remaining fungi a home.
"Fusarium wilts." . Royal Horticultural Society, 8 Apr 2011. Web. 2 Feb 2011. .
"Fusarium Wilt And Its Effect On Bananas." The New York Botanical Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. .
"UC Pest Management Guidelines." Fusarium Wilt. N.p., n.d. Web. .
Fusarium wilt affecting world crops
ReplyDeleteIn the potato Irish famine, altogether, about a million people in Ireland are estimated to have died of starvation and epidemic disease between 1846 and 1851, and some two million emigrated in a period of a little more than a decade (1845-55) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml). Comparison with other modern would fall short to the destruction, but, in the 1950s, the bananas exported from Central America were in great danger. It was then that vascular wilt, a disease that attacks through the vascular system and ultimately kills by dehydration, reached epidemic proportions (http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/fusarium.asp.html). Bacterial wilt is caused by Ralstonia solanacearum (http://www.pjp.pakps.com/files/11-20-irfan-paper.pdf).
Scientist have come to the conclusion that Crop rotation and genetic resistance reduce risk of damage from Fusarium wilt in lettuce, which might just help advancement in reduction in all crops affected by wilt (http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org/landingpage.cfm?articleid=ca.v066n01p20&fulltext=yes). Also, catching the signs of infection early might just save lives. In bananas, the first symptoms of an infected banana are reddish-brown discoloration in the roots.
The Fusarium fungi has created a huge widespread issues with banana plantations. This disease for fruits is closely related to the problem with sweet potatoes back in the 1940s because they are both causes by the same Fusarium species but in this case instead of the disease being F. oxysporum f. sp. batatas for potatoes, it's F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense for bananas (wikipedia, Fusarium wilt). The "cubense" type of the disease affecting banas is also called the "Panama disease", this disease has caused the banana plantation and distribution to be reduced because the banana production is being greatly reduced because of this disease. Fusarium has caused the banas to wilt and die, attacking the young roots of bananas. What can scientists do about it? Well there's always pesticides but that's bad for us humans. As a start, I would tell scientists to begin to research more of this fungi. making new research and seeing what chemicals can affect it, and maybe eventually genetically modifying the banana so it doesn't wilt and die at the hands of this disease. Always keeping in mind the consumers, we must find a way to make this pesticide or resolution of the issue, whatever it may be, unharmful to humans.
ReplyDeleteFusarium wilt is an old disease, originated in Southeast Asia. It affected commercial productions in the Americas. It was thought that resistant cultivars were going to solve the issue. However, it has become apparent in the last few decades that the disease again threatens not only the production of dessert bananas, but also of plantains and locally- preferred fruit of other cultivars. Fusarium wilt, is caused by the fungal pathogen called Fusarium oxysporum [David R. Jones, 2013]
ReplyDeleteIt is also called Panama disease. Its effect over plants starts by entering through plants’ young roots. Infected plants are usually stunted; their leaves turn pale green to golden yellow and later wilt, wither, die, and drop off progressively upward from the stem base. Dark streaks occur in vascular tissue (xylem) of the roots and lower stem, while roots may decay and seedlings sometimes wilt and die. Fusaria can live indefinitely in soil without access to living host plants. [Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2014]
In the 1840s a new disease showed up in Europe. The Irish potato famine, or in its scientific name Phytophthora infestans still lives until this day. Compared to Fusarium wilt, this disease has been regulated. However, it continues being a threat. [James Ayre, 2014]
They are both a “blight of unusual character” which devastate many crops. The Irish potato famine turns slimy, decaying, blackish, and very similar to the effects that Fusarium wilt causes. [Digital History, Feb. 26th, 2014]. In other words both diseases are dreadful for the economy, the production of vegetables, and a challenge for scientists.
There are websites where people ask about how to cure Fusarium wilt, but in reality there is no cure, and since it persists into soil for years, it can be very hard to eradicate. Some home remedies like adding lime to soil and increasing the pH scale may help treat it. [Marie Iannotti, 2014]
Banana growers are thinking about using hydroponic systems. Gene transformation techniques have also been used in attempts to improve the resistance of banana to Fusarium wilt. In Australia, embryogenic cell suspensions of the banana cultivar have been transformed with genes that negatively regulate programmed cell death. It is argued that the prevention of cell death is important as the fungus feeds on decaying tissue. In other words scientists are trying to attack this disease by genetically fortifying the plants’ structure. However, the results of field trials, which are essential to confirm resistance, have not yet been reported. [ David R. Jones, 2014]
Sources
Jones, David. R. "Emerging Banana diseases." Acorbat Brasil 2013. International REUNION , 113 september 2013. Web. 26 Feb 2014.
http://www.cnpmf.embrapa.br/publicacoes/ACORBAT2013/Paletras_Acorbat2013/8%20EmergingBananaProblems.pdf
Chauhan , Yamini. "Fusarium wilt." Encyclopedia britannica. The EDITORS, 27 Jun 2013. Web.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/222756/Fusarium-wilt
Ayre, James. "Planetsave." Irish Potato FAMINE . N.p., n.d. Web.
http://planetsave.com/2013/07/18/irish-potato-famine-causing-pathogen-is-more-virulent-now-than-ever-6-2-billion-spent-annually-on-arms-race-with-phytophthora-infestans-pathogen/
"The Irish Potato Famine." Digital History . N.p., 26 Feb 2014. Web.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/Irish_potato_famine.cfm
Iannotti, Marie. "about.com Gardening." Symptoms and Control of Fusarium Wilt in Tomatoes. N.p., n.d. Web.
http://gardening.about.com/od/problemspest1/a/Fusarium-Wilt-Of-Tomatoes_2.htm
Alvaro Rojas
ReplyDeleteBlog: A Blight of Unusual Character
Through out many years banana plantations have been known to be very fragile. This is due to the fact that fungus like the Fusarium Wilt is spread very easily and hard to eradicate form an area. According to the article written in the RHS website “The Fusarium Wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease”. According to The Ohio State University Extension article “The fungus get into the plants organism through the young roots of the plants”. What this fungus does is that it blocks the water carrying vessels inside the bananas. Without water the bananas will in fact die. There are some symptoms that identify this disease like: stunted growth, yellowing and wilting of the leaves, root or stem decay, etc. On the other side there was a similar fungus that attacked the Irish potato production. It was called “The Irish Potato Famine”. As the name implies it attacked the potato plantations located in Ireland. In the article published by digitalhistory.uh.edu the fungus made potatoes (a common food in Ireland) become a slimy, decaying, blackish “mass of rottenness”. People who ate this got diseases like cholera, dysentery, scurvy, etc.
Today farmers have ways to get rid of the Fusarium Wilt. A way they prevent getting the fungus is by putting fungicide on the seed so that the fungus doesn’t grow if there is any. According to the article written on UC IPM Online website; once the plants are already infected farmers use nitrate nitrogen to kill the fungus or the do the process of Liming the soil.
Sources:
Sally A. Miller Randall C. Rowe Richard M. Riedel, . "OhioLine." Fact Sheet. N.p.. Web. 26 Feb 2014. .
"Digital History." The Irish Potato Famine. N.p., 26 february 2014. Web. 26 Feb 2014. .
"UC IPM Online." UC Pest Management Guidelines. N.p., n.d. Web. .
Conduct further research about Fusarium wilt and what the experts think the threat poses to the world's crops. How does this situation compare with the Irish potato famine in the 1840's? What are banana growers going to do about it?
ReplyDeleteThe fungal genus Fusarium is one that causes severe diseases on plants(Thomas A.Zittter, Cornell). The Fusarium wilt of banana caused by Fusarium oxysporum was first found in Panama around 1890s, and that is why it is commonly referred to as Panama disease. The disease is widespread in tropical regions, where bananas grow, and it is one of the most lethal plant diseases in the world.
The first appearance of Fusarium wilt on the Cavendish cultivar in Taiwan was noticed in 1967, after that it has been reported in many places in the Eastern Hemisphere.(Shin-Chuan Hwang and Wen-Hsiung Ko). While the disease is immune to pesticides, scientists are working on a way to save the world’s bananas(since the majority of the world’s bananas are Cavendish). Various methods have been tested to reduce the pathogen in the field. Measures such as soil amendment with urea and rotation with paddy rice were effective, but none were commercially viable. In order to avoid the wilt more than one million Cavendish banana plants have been produced by tissue culture every year in Taiwan since 1984 in order to generate variation for selection of “commercially acceptable wilt resistant cultivars of Giant Cavendish”(Shin-Chuan Hwang and Wen-Hsiung Ko). Basically scientists are looking for mutations of the species that are resistant to the wilt in order to clone them and have crops that are fusarium resistant.
Scientists have isolated Trichoderma spp. from the rhizosphere of banana from different areas of India for its potential against Fusarium oxysporum. The trichoderma harzianum isolate Th-10 was the most effective in inhibiting the growth of fusarium in vitro.(R.Thangavelu)
The Irish potato famine in the 1840s was caused by a severe blight starting in the year 1836. The potato famine was not caused by the Fusarium wilt, instead it was caused by the fungus Phytophora infestants.(Cambridge eLife journal)
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Cucurbits_Fusarium.htm Cornell, 1998.
http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PDIS.2004.88.6.580 June 2004
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788090300358X June 2004
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1305/1305.4206.pdf Cambridge, May 2013
ReplyDeleteFusarium wilt, aka Panama disease, is a deadly fungal disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. The fungus enters through the roots and colonizes the xylem causing a blockage so that nutrients and water getting through. The fungus can be in the soil for many years and even cannot be managed using chemical pesticides. The fungus is the first disease of bananas to have spread globally. The fungus causes discoloration, wilting and eventually kills the plant. The discoloration varies from pale yellow, dark red and even black. The fungus is spread through infected planting material, water, and soil. The best option in preventing the fungus is to replace the already infested soil with susceptible cultivars by resistant ones. It cannot be controlled by fungicides and cannot be fumigated. One way to minimize the movement of the fungus is to use surface sterilants. (N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .) This fungus effects primarily in Latin America but is commonly found along equator all over the world. The first case was reported in Australia although the fungus was originated in south Asia. This fungus effects many banana growers in Latin America and can be compared, although slightly, to the Potato famine in Ireland in 1840. The famine killed 1.5 million people because the Irish depended almost solely on the potato. When the blight hit, the population didn’t know what was happening and lost all of their crops and what they had in storage. A famine will not happen in todays day and age because our population today depends on more than one crop and it is easier for us to import and export goods. Also, we have more ways to know what is going on and find more ways to prevent and stop the movement of the blight. ("The The Irish Potato Famine, 1847." The The Irish Potato Famine, 1847. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .)