Bananas may seem abundantly available now, but there’s a chance the global banana industry could be wiped out within a decade.
Bananas may seem abundantly available now, but there’s a chance the global banana industry could be wiped out within a decade.
The reason, according to a news release from the University of California, Davis, is fungal diseases which have already cut output by as much as 40 percent in some cases.
So a team of researchers decided to analyze the genes of two of the most threatening strains, the Eumusae leaf spot and black Sigatoka.
They found that the pathogens attack the banana plants by interfering with their immune system and “also by adapting the metabolism of the fungi to match that of the host plants.”
This enables the fungi to break down cell walls and “feed on the plant’s sugars and other carbohydrates.”
The team hopes that the increased understanding of these serious fungal diseases can help scientists “develop hardier, disease-resistant banana plants and more effective disease-prevention treatments.”
The varieties of bananas that are currently being cultivated require dozens of fungicide applications annually, resulting in higher production costs and environmental risks.
