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Page added on August 17, 2016

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Less than 10 years left to save bananas

Scientists have sequenced the genomes of three fungal diseases that currently threaten banana crops, and found something disturbing – the fungi have evolved to the point where they could wipe out the most popular banana crops in five to 10 years.

Before you let the darkness of a world without bananas swallow you up, the good news is that now we know the genetic sequence of these fungi, we have a good chance of being able to save our favourite fruit species.

“In reality, the global banana industry could be wiped out in just five to 10 years by fast-advancing fungal diseases,” a statement from study leaders from the University of California, Davis, explains.

The news comes after we found out last year that another type of fungi not studied in this paper, Panama disease, had breached quarantine efforts and spread across South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia, posing a serious threat to banana crops.

But for this research, the team looked at a disease called Sigatoka, which is caused by three types of fungi, and already reduces banana yields by 40 percent every year.

For the first time, scientists from the University of California, Davis and the Netherlands sequenced the genomes of all three Sigatoka strains – yellow Sigatoka (Pseudocercospora musae), eumusae leaf spot (Pseudocercospora eumusae), and black Sigatoka (Pseudocercospora figiensis).

They found that the strains had actually become more dangerous, and no longer just hijack banana’s immune system, but also their metabolism.

“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,” said one of the researchers Ioannis Stergiopoulos.

“This parallel change in metabolism of the pathogen and the host plant has been overlooked until now and may represent a ‘molecular fingerprint’ of the adaption process,” he added.

“It is really a wake-up call to the research community to look at similar mechanisms between pathogens and their plant hosts.”

The researchers say that the fruit (or, arguably, berry or herb, depending on your definition) suffers from an ‘image problem’, where everyone assumes they’ll be around forever because of how common they are, but in reality, they’re particularly vulnerable to pathogen species.

This is because pretty much all commercial bananas are of the Cavendish variety, and unlike other crops, they’re grown from shoot cuttings, rather than seeds.

“The Cavendish banana plants all originated from one plant and so as clones, they all have the same genotype – and that is a recipe for disaster,” said Stergiopoulos.

In other words, a disease capable of killing one plant could kill them all.

So, what’s the answer? One of the best solutions would be to develop a new banana cultivar, outside of the Cavendish variety that we’ve come to love and stock in supermarkets everywhere.

But, as Bec Crew reported for us last year, that takes a lot of time and money.

Instead, scientists might be able to use these new genetic sequencing results to modify Cavendish bananas to be resistant to the three strains of Sigatoka disease – or come up with new fungicides that interrupt the fungi’s ability to hijack banana’s metabolism.

Either way, the reality is that bananas are in trouble – a lot more than most of us realise. So go out and appreciate those golden parcels of delight while they’re still available at a reasonable price, because even if we can help them avoid extinction, they won’t be this abundant forever.

The research has been published in PLOS Genetics.



8 Comments on "Less than 10 years left to save bananas"

  1. makati1 on Wed, 17th Aug 2016 7:44 pm 

    Mono crop farming is doomed as nature loves crowding to do her work. Like our crowded cities. So vulnerable to disease and other pests as we crowd into buses, malls, theaters, stadiums, condos. etc.

    BTW: “In the Philippines grow many different varieties of bananas. There are bananas which are not sweet and only used for cooking and there are sweet and tasteful bananas. Bananas can differ remarkable in size as well as in color; from yellow to red-skinned to green bananas. One variety is not loved by foreigners. That is the banana, rather small in size, with seeds in it.”

    I have tried most of them and find that the death of the Cavendish will not be missed.

  2. peakyeast on Thu, 18th Aug 2016 2:52 am 

    This is only a problem to the factory farming industry?

  3. JuanP on Thu, 18th Aug 2016 7:12 am 

    Mak “I have tried most of them and find that the death of the Cavendish will not be missed.”
    I completely agree, Mak! I am growing eight types of bananas and one type of plantain right now and they don’t include the regular Cavendish type, though one of them is related, the Red Dwarf Cavendish, which gives gorgeous, delicious purple bananas. I also buy Cavendish bananas at the store like most people in the world and they are definitely the most bland of the lot. I will not miss the Cavendish bananas when they are gone.

  4. makati1 on Thu, 18th Aug 2016 7:20 am 

    peaky, I’m just saying that most of your food in the US comes from huge mono crop farms, orchards and vineyards. Mono crops are more susceptible to disease and pest damage than say, permaculture that works with nature and not against it.

    I’m only saying that the predominant type of agriculture practiced in the US is not sustainable in the future for many reasons.

    When you plant your garden, you don’t just plant all beans or all corn do you? You probably plant many different veggies. And, if you practice permaculture, you are going to discourage even more pests and diseases with variety and mixed beds, more like nature does it.

    http://members.tripod.com/foro_emaus/BanPlantsCA.htm

    A 5,000 hectare (2,000 A. or about 3 sq. mile) banana plantation is an invitation for disease and pests. Not to mention the huge wheat and corn farms in the US Midwest. Mother Nature is at war and she will win.

  5. JuanP on Thu, 18th Aug 2016 7:24 am 

    Peaky, Yes, this is an industrial farming problem. Most banana plants in commercial plantations are propagated by root division and are descended from one single plant so they are susceptible to damage from Panama disease and Sigatoka.

    These Cavendish bananas they sell in supermarkets are not particularly flavorful and very few people would grow them for personal consumption or local trading. They were selected for their yield, dependability, and because they are the easiest ones to harvest green and ship long distances. Most other types of bananas taste much better. I know that the eight types of bananas that I grow taste better than the ones you can buy at the store, particularly the so called Apple bananas and the Blue Java Vanilla Ice Cream bananas, both of which are truly delicious. I have never tasted a banana with less flavor than the Cavendish. There is a place here in Miami called Going Bananas where you can go and sample dozens of different types and they are all better than the Cavendish.

  6. Dredd on Thu, 18th Aug 2016 8:09 am 

    Current civilization is the fungus (How Reliable Is The World Ocean Database?).

  7. Go Speed Racer on Thu, 18th Aug 2016 5:39 pm 

    This is driving me bananas.

  8. PracticalMaina on Fri, 19th Aug 2016 7:50 am 

    Not bananas! in the second of typing that 2 species were probably wiped out in the Amazon… coulda been the latest and greatest antibiotic, o well we got some cheap beef land and old school antibiotics to funnel into them cows.

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