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Bananas Could be Extinct in Five Years Due to Fast-Advancing Fungal Diseases
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Fungi Could Wipe Out Bananas In 5 To 10 Years
Researchers have discovered how three fungal diseases have evolved into a lethal threat to the world’s bananas.
The discovery, reported online in PLOS Genetics, better equips researchers to develop hardier, disease-resistant banana plants and more effective disease-prevention treatments.
We have demonstrated that two of the three most serious banana fungal diseases have become more virulent by increasing their ability to manipulate the banana’s metabolic pathways and make use of its nutrients,” says University of California, Davis plant pathologist Ioannis Stergiopoulos, who led the effort to sequence two of the fungal genomes.
In reality, the global banana industry could be wiped out in just 5 to 10 years by fast-advancing fungal diseases. And that would prove devastating to millions of small-scale farmers who depend on the fruit for food, fiber, and income. Already, Sigatoka — a three-fungus disease complex — reduces banana yields by 40 percent...
[link to digg.com]
[link to journals.plos.org]
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