Panama Disease May Put Banana in Extinction

The banana which is one of the most popular fruit is endangered. It is because during its cultivation, the reproduction and growing has been disturbed by fungus. As a result, the replanting process is stopped and generate devastating disease. This fungal can also infect the nearby plants as the fungus is a soil-borne microorganism. The infection has been widely spreading particularly for the Cavendish. If we do not prevent this, in the next half century our next generation will not taste banana ice cream.

Evidence of fungal prevents nutrients and water inside xylem
image is credited by bananaroots.files.wordpress.com

The presence of fungal could be a horrifying news for many people including health adviser, farmers, scientists. In the Asian society, banana is one of the cheapest fruit so many people consume it. However, banana is cultivated not by its seed, instead it is from the rhizome so the production depends on the condition of the soil. The fungal disease has been reported attacking the Cavendish – one of the popular species of banana – in several Asian countries including Indonesia and China. The problem is as mentioned before, the spreading commencing on land could affect the other species of banana.

However, the flavor of this fruit will be not be able to be tasted as the presence of fungal. Globally speaking, today, the production is being disturbed and hindered by Fusarium wilt, causing devastating infections (Lin, et al., 2017). As a result, the young rhizome will be destroyed and the new generation of banana will not grow. As the demands of this fruit is higher, losing of production caused by this fungal must be prevented. Otherwise, the continuous destructive infection which is soil-infected process will spread on the planet.

Report on banana infection leading to extinction

It was started in 1980s, many growers realized something important since there was no technology at that time to diverse the plant. Genetically speaking, the growers demand the gene-based seeds as the plant is classified monoculture. However, the first disease that infected Cavendish – one of genus in banana – was Panama Strain. The next infection happened in 1990 and it was founded first in Malaysia. The infection was called “Tropical Race 4” which was caused by common type of fungal.

Fusarium Spp. Image is credited by wikipedia.org

Ever since that era, scientists in plant breeding have been setting up experiments to find the solution. This pathogenical fungal was solved by the proposal suggested by (Fravel, et al., 2003) and (Weller, et al., 2002). They used biological control mechanisms to prevent the growth of fungal, for example, Trichoderma spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Bacillus spp. The use of combination between organic materials with biocontrol agents were proved to be successful to prevent the activity of fungal as it enhances the strength of the agents.

Nevertheless, this infected soil disease induced by the fungal has been globally becoming serious issue. As for the microorganisms are important due to the nutrients within the soil, the banana Fusarium is a big threat for the conservation of this plant.

How the infection is occurred

The banana Fusarium is a fungal that will stay in the soil. As the crop is planted in the soil, immediately the fungus will enter the body and caused blocking the flow of water and nutrients to the whole body. It is happened because the fungal is growth and forms colonies within the xylem. This pathogenic disease is generated by the fungal which was firstly induced the roots. As the banana is cultivated by the rhizomes, therefore the spore of fungus could be distributed by the natural events such as water flowing, air and winds, and even the pollinated insects.

As a result, burning the crops are the effective ways to prevent the infectious. This can isolate the area including the soil-borne spore fungus. However, this solution can cause many disadvantages including environmental impact and expenses in replanting procedure. Fortunately, the biological agents that can control the growth of fungal as mentioned above are promising to try.

References
[1] Fravel, D., Olivain, C. & Alabouvette, C., 2003. Fusarium oxysporum and its biocontrol. new Phytologist, Issue 157, pp. 493-502. DOI: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00700.x
[2] Lin, F. et al., 2017. Inducing the rhizosphere microbiome by biofertilizer application to suppress banana Fusarium wilt disease. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Volume 104, pp. 39-48. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.10.008
[3] Weller, D. M., Raaijmakers, J. M., Gardener, B. B. M. & Thomashow, L. S., 2002. Microbial populations responsible for specific soil suppressiveness to plant pathogens. Annual Review of Phytopathology, Issue 40, pp. 309-348. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.phyto.40.030402.110010
[4] Images are downloaded from wikipedia.org and bananaroots.files.wordpress.com