Since the 1950s, Panama Disease has caused devastating banana crop losses around the world. Photo: Karegg/Shutterstock Banana battles Image caption: Biosecurity measures at banana plantation in Queensland. Botanists use this fungi naming protocol to distinguish between different, usually pathogenic, fungal strains.Īustralians eat five million bananas daily! One of the world’s biggest crops, bananas have been fighting disease since the 1950s. (forma specialis) indicates that this is a special form of the pathogen. 'Cubense' tells us that it comes from Cuba.į. 'Oxus' is from the Ancient Greek word for sharp and 'sporos' for seed. Etymologyįusarium is derived from the Latin 'fusus', meaning a spindle, which references the shape of the microscopic spore of the fungus. The race is on now to discover disease resistant cultivars to replace Cavendish bananas. Unfortunately a new strain of the fungus “Tropical Race 4” has evolved to attack Cavendish bananas and is now spreading around the world threatening banana production. In the past, Australian growers relied on Fusarium Wilt resistant cultivars such as the Cavendish Banana to avoid financial and crop losses due to Panama disease. Growers can no longer save their skins with Cavendish Bananas It had no cure however, a resistant cultivar ”Cavendish” was discovered and replaced Gros Michel all over the world wherever bananas are grown. The epidemic began in Central America on ‘Gros Michel’, a variety that dominated the global banana export trade. Panama Disease is incurableįusarium Wilt was the first banana-specific disease to spread worldwide in the first half of the 20th century. cubense which causes Panama Disease, is host-specific, growing only on bananas and is one of the most destructive diseases in banana crops globally. One of the many strains is Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. The common fungal soil-borne pathogen that causes Fusarium Wilt in plants is Fusarium oxysporum different plant species are susceptible to different strains of Fusarium. cubense Common names: Panama disease of banana, Fusarium wiltįusarium Wilt is a vascular wilt disease it attacks a plant’s vascular tissues, which contain water, nutrients and sap. And paedogenesis - where juvenile aphids are born pregnant!įusarium Wilt of bananas Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Two remarkable methods are parthenogenesis - where females bypass the need to mate and give birth to clones. Photo: M.Yokoyama/FLICKR CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Having babiesĪphids never stop multiplying. Image caption: Look closely to find the bodies of parasitised aphids - sometimes you can see where the wasp emerged from the host. The wasp larvae hatch and eat the aphid from the inside out. Another helpful predator, parasitic wasps ( Aphidiius rosae) lay their eggs inside aphids. They reproduce in the millions, all busy slurping sap from buds and new shoots with their straw-shaped mouthparts.īut we’ve got good insects on our side! Lacewings, Ladybug and Hoverfly larvae are released into the Garden to munch on aphids. Quintin/FLICKR CC BY-NC 2.0 War of the rosesĪphids are a gardener’s nightmare. Image caption: In a hurry to reproduce, aphids can lay eggs or give birth to live young. These tiny, soft bodied bugs can migrate hundreds of kilometres, and have offspring at a rate of 12 per day! Rosae has its origin in the Latin for Rose, rosy or pink. Macrosiphum is derived from the Greek ‘macro’ meaning large and the Latin ‘Sipho’ meaning siphon, both of which reference the Aphid’s siphoning mouthparts that suck up their host’s sap. They are most active during spring and summer when tender rose shoots and buds grow. Aphids also spread other diseases as they move from plant to plant. Sooty Mould disrupts the plant’s photosynthesis and respiration. The damage to the Rose doesn’t stop there the insect’s secretions, also known as Honeydew, cause a secondary disease, Sooty Mould. Rose Aphids suck up nutrients from rose plants which damage their foliage and flowers. This Aphid has a penchant for feeding on the sap of rose shoots, tips, and buds. It’s host-specific, which means it feeds only on or in one species. Macrosiphum rosae is one of the thousands of aphid species found globally. Rose Aphids – the sap-feeding enemy of the Rose Species: Macrosiphum rosaeĪphids are small, soft-bodied insects that are members of the insect order Hemiptera which also includes psyllids, cicadas, leafhoppers and bed bugs.
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