Interaction between Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense and Radopholus similis can lead to changes in the resistance of banana cultivars to Fusarium wilt

Anelita de Jesus Rocha,Eduardo S. G. Mizubuti,Mileide dos Santos Ferreira,Edson Perito Amorim,Leandro de Souza Rocha,Fernando Haddad,Saulo A. S. Oliveira

doi:10.1007/s10658-020-02081-y

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) causes Panama disease or Fusarium wilt of bananas. The association between soil-inhabiting fungi and nematodes can increase the severity of symptoms and suppress the resistance of plants to diseases. In this study, the interaction between Foc race 1 and Radopholus similis, a burrowing nematode that parasitizes banana plants, was analyzed using one moderately susceptible cultivar and seven resistant cultivars of banana. Two Foc isolates that differed in virulence were tested. The analyses of symptoms and stained fungal structures in the roots demonstrated that R. similis interacting with Foc in different inoculation sequences caused changes in symptom severity and the resistance pattern to Foc isolate 0801 (race 1) in cultivars ‘Terra Maranhão’, ‘BRS Pacovan Ken’, ‘BRS Vitória’, and ‘BRS Platina’. The data generated in this study have relevant implications for banana breeding programs in the classification of cultivars for durable resistance to Fusarium wilt and for understanding pathogen interactions during occurrence of the disease.

Highlights

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (EF Smith) Snyder and Hansen (Foc) causes Panama disease or Fusarium wilt (FW) in bananas, a fungal disease that is a serious threat to both export crops and small-scale banana production worldwide (Ploetz, 2015)
When comparing the virulence profiles of Foc 218A using the host range test, the isolate did not belong to Tropical Race 4 (TR4)
This isolate appeared to be Subtropical Race 4 (STR4) based on tests from the vegetative compatibility group, where it was characterized as belonging to vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) 0120

Summary

Introduction

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (EF Smith) Snyder and Hansen (Foc) causes Panama disease or Fusarium wilt (FW) in bananas, a fungal disease that is a serious threat to both export crops and small-scale banana production worldwide (Ploetz, 2015). Cubense (EF Smith) Snyder and Hansen (Foc) causes Panama disease or Fusarium wilt (FW) in bananas, a fungal disease that is a serious threat to both export crops and small-scale banana production worldwide (Ploetz, 2015). Another pathogen of fruit crops, including bananas, is the burrowing nematode Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne. Foc is a soil necrotrophic pathogen that produces chlamydospores, survival spores that remain viable allowing the disease to persist and preventing the use of susceptible banana cultivars. Banana genotypes have been evaluated via the banana breeding program of Embrapa in Brazil to detect genotypes resistant to the pathogens among diploid accessions with an appropriate level of genetic variability, such as M53, Jaran, Birmanie, Pipit, and Malaccensis and between the Figo type and Silver type genotypes with Foc race 1 resistance alleles (Silva et al 2011; Rebouças et al 2018; Ribeiro et al 2018)

Methods

Results

Conclusion