Moniliophthora perniciosa, the causal agent of witches’ broom disease of cacao: what's new from this old foe?

Abstract

http://www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/vassoura/, http://nt.ars-grin.gov/taxadescriptions/keys/TrichodermaIndex.cfm, http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/info-center/research-updates.asp, http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/psi/spcl.

Genetic diversity of polysporic isolates of Moniliophthora perniciosa (Tricholomataceae)

“…RAPD analysis performed by Andebrhan et al (1999) has shown that isolates from Bahia formed 2 distinct groups, with some isolates grouping with C-biotypes from the Amazon, but not with the S-or B-biotypes. These 2 groups appeared to give credibility to reports of 2 independent introductions into the State of Bahia, leading the authors to conclude that witches' broom disease in Bahia was introduced from Amazonian isolates (Meinhardt et al, 2008).…”

“…The authors reported that this isolate was unable to complete its life cycle on B. orellana, and the isolate was later proven to be genetically identical to biotype C isolates found in Bahia (Bastos and Andebrhan, 1986;Griffith and Hedger, 1994a). Therefore, Meinhardt et al (2008) do not consider biotype B a distinct subgroup of this species.…”

“…Efforts toward making genetic improvements in cocoa plants have been insignificant compared to those to develop other methods of control owing to the unknown genetic basis of resistance and mechanism of plant-pathogen interaction (Wheeler, 1976;Agrios, 1988) combined with poor identification of resistant plant isolates through artificial inoculation, large pathogen variability, and a lack of known pathotypes (Silva et al, 1998;Meinhardt et al, 2008).…”

“…Colonization throughout various hosts increases genotype selection and high variability (Meinhardt et al, 2008).…”

Productividad De Clones De Cacao Tipo Nacional en Una Zona Del Bosque Húmedo Tropical De La Provincia De Los Ríos, Ecuador

“…Esta enfermedad causa pérdidas superiores al 50% de la cosecha en plantaciones con bajo nivel de tecnología (Sánchez et al, 2003;Sánchez-Mora y Garcés-Fiallos, 2012). Por su lado, la escoba de bruja es un patógeno que ha provocado grandes pérdidas económicas en todas las regiones de cultivo, donde ha causado reducciones en el rendimiento que van desde 50 a 90% (Meinhardt et al, 2008;Almeida et al, 2009). La propagación de esta enfermedad amenaza a todos los países de América donde se cultiva cacao, constituyendo además una seria amenaza para los países libres de esta enfermedad (Pereira et al, 1996).…”