Abstract
The edible bananas originated in Asia. Fusarium wilt, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, is a lethal disease of this important food crop. Also known as Panama disease, it impacts on a wide range of cultivars and, like its host, is now found throughout the tropical regions of the world. Although most authorities believe that the pathogen co-evolved with banana, a non-Asian origin is also possible. Before global collections of F. oxysporum f sp. cubense became available, there was scant evidence to support either of these hypotheses. New information on genetic diversity in the fungus, and its ancestry, confirms that it most likely originated in south and southeast Asia. The available data indicate that the eastern limit of its native range was probably defined by the 1910 version of Wallace’s line; its distribution coincided with his Indo-Malayan region. We believe that this is the first time that Wallace’s line has been shown to delimit the distribution of a microorganism, F. oxysporum f sp. cubense.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anonymous (1991) — FAD Food Production Statistics. Rome.
Audley-Charles, M.G. (1981) — Geological history of the region of Wallace’s line. In Wallace’s Line and Plate Tectonics (Ed T.C. Whitmore), pp. 24–35. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Bentley, S., Pegg, K.G. and Dale, J.L. (1995) — Genetic variation among a world-wide collection of isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense analyzed by RAPD-PCR fingerprinting. Mycological Research 99: 1378–1384.
Bin Doon, Y. (1991) — Status of banana diseases in Malaysia. In: Banana Diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings of a Technical Meeting on Banana Diseases Affecting Banana and Plantain in Asia and the Pacific (Eds R.Y. Valmayor, B.E. Umali and C.P. Bejosano), pp. 50–51. INIBAP.
Boehm, E.W.A., Ploetz, R.C. and Kistler, H.C. (1994) — Statistical analysis of electrophoretic karyotype variation among vegetative compatibility groups of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense. Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions 7: 196–207.
Buddenhagen, I.W. and Kelman, A. (1964) — Biological and physiological aspects of bacterial wilt caused by Pseudomonas solanacearum. Annual Review of Phytopathology 2: 203–230.
Buxton, E.W. (1962) — Parasexual recombination in the banana-wilt Fusarium. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 45: 274–279.
Carreel, F., Fauré, S., Gonzâlez de León, D., Lagoda, P.J.L., Perrier, X., Bakry, F., Tezenas du Monteel, H., Lanaud, C. and Horry, J.P. (1994) — Évaluation de la diversité génétique chez les bananiers diploídes (Musa spp.). Genet. Sel. Evol. 26: 125s-136s.
Chandra, K.J. (1991) — Status of banana diseases in India. In Banana Diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings of a Technical Meeting on Banana Diseases Affecting Banana and Plantain in Asia and the Pacific (Eds R.V. Valmayor, B.E. Umali, and C.P. Bejosano), pp. 38–43. INIBAP.
Correll, J.C., Klittich, C.J.R. and Leslie, I.F. (1987) — Nitrate-nonutilizing mutants of Fusarium oxysporum and their use in vegetative compatibility tests. Phytopathology 77: 1640–1646.
Dransfield, J. (1981) — Palms and Wallace’s line. In: Wallace s Line and Plate Tectonics (Ed I.C. Whitmore), pp. 43–56. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Flor, H.H. (1956) — The complementary genic systems in flax and flax rust. Advances in Genetics 8: 29–55.
George, W. (1981) — Wallaceand his line. In Wallace’s Line and Plate Tectonics (Ed T.C. Whitmore), pp. 3–8. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Gerlach, W. and Nirenberg, H. (1982) — The Genus Fusarium — a Pictorial Atlas. Paul Parey, Berlin.
Goodwin, S.B. Sujkowski, L.S., Dyer, A.T., Fry, B.A. and Fry, W.E. (1995) — Direct detection of gene flow and probable sexual reproduction of Phytophthora infestans in northern North America. Phytopathology 85: 473–479.
Hernandez, J.M., Freitas, G., Ploetz, R.C. and Kendrick, C. (1993) — Fusarial wilt of banana in the Canary Islands with some data regarding the Madeira Archipelago. In Proceedings of an International Symposium on Recent Developments in Banana Cultivation Technology (Eds R.V. Valmayor, S.C. Hwang, R.C. Ploetz, S.W. Lee, and V.N. Roa, V.N.), pp. 247–254. TBRI, ASPNET and INIBAP.
Kistler, H.C. and Miao, V. (1992) — New modes of genetic change in filamentous fungi. Annual Review of Phytopathology 30: 131–152.
Koenig, R.L., Ploetz, R.C. and Kistler, H.C. (1997) — Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense consists of a small number of divergent and globally distributed lineages. Phytopathology 87: 915–923.
Kress, W.J. (1990) — The phylogeny and classification of the Zingiberales. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 77: 698–721.
Kuhn, D.N., Cortes, B., Pinto, T. and Weaver, J. (1995) — Parasexuality and heterokaryosis in Fusarium oxysporum f sp. cubense. Phytopathology 85: 1119.
Leslie, J.F. (1993) — Vegetative compatibility in fungi. Annual Review of Phytopathology 31: 127–151.
Manchester, S.R. (1995) — Yes, we had bananas. Oregon Geology 57: 41–43.
Manchester, S.R. and Kress, W.J. (1993) — Fossil bananas (Musaceae): Ensete oregonense sp. nov. from the Eocene of western North America and its phytogeographic significance. American Journal of Botany 80: 1264–1272.
Muharam, A. and Subijanto. (1991) — Status of banana diseases in Indonesia. In Banana Diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings of a Technical Meeting on Banana Diseases Affecting Banana and Plantain in Asia and the Pacific (Eds R.V. Valmayor, B.E. Umali, and C.P. Bejosano), pp. 44–49. INIBAP.
Nelson, P.E., Toussoun, T.A. and Marasas, W.O. (1983) — Fusarium Species. An Illustrated Guide for Identification. Pennsylvania State University Press.
O’Donnell, K.O., and Cigelnik, E. (1996) — Molecular systematics and phylogeny of Gibberella fujikuroi and the Fusarium oxysporum species complex. Symposium: Evolutionary biology of Fusarium oxysporum and the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. Abstract of Presentations, Joint meeting APS/IMSA. p. 127.
Ortiz, R. (1995) — Musa genetics. In Bananas and Plantains (Ed S. Gowen) Chapman & Hall, London.
Pegg, K.G., Moore, N.Y. and Sorensen, S. (1993) — Fusarium wilt in the Asian Pacific region. In Proceedings of an International Symposium on Recent Developments in Banana Cultivation Technology (Eds R.V. Valmayor, S.C. Hwang, RC. Ploetz, S.W. Lee, and Y.N. Roa, Y.N.), pp. 255–269. TBRI, ASPNET and INIBAP.
Pegg, K.G., Moore, N.Y. and Sorensen, S. (1994) — Variability in populations of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense from the Asia/Pacific region. In The Improvement and Testing of Musa: a Global Partnership (Ed D.R. Jones), pp. 70–82. INIBAP, Montpellier, France.
Ploetz, R.C. (1990) — Population biology of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense. In Fusarium Wilt of Banana (Ed R.C. Ploetz), pp. 63–76. APS Press, American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN USA.
Ploetz, R.C. (1992) — Fusarium wilt of banana (panama disease). In Plant Diseases of International Importance, Vol. III (Eds A.N. Mukhopadhyay, H.S. Chaube, J. Kumar, and U.S. Singh), pp. 270–282. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Ploetz, R.C. (1994) — Panama disease: Return of the first banana menace. International Journal of Pest Management 40: 326–336.
Ploetz, R.C., Braunworth, W.S., Jr., Hasty, S., Gantotti, B., Chizala, C.T., Banda, D.L.N., Makina, D.W. and Channer, A.G. (1992) — Fusarium wilt of banana (Panama disease) in Malawi. Fruits 47: 503–508.
Ploetz, R.C., Herbert, J., Sebasigari, K., Hernandez, J.H., Pegg, K.G., Ventura J.A. and Mayato, L.S. (1990) — Importance of fusarium wilt in different banana-growing regions. In Fusarium Wilt of Banana (Ed R.C. Ploetz), pp. 9–26. APS Press, American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN USA.
Ploetz, R.C., Vázquez, A., Nagel, J., Benscher, D., Sianglew, P., Srikul, S., Kooariyakul, S., Wattanachaiyingcharoen, W., Lertrat, P. and Wattanachaiyingcharoen, D. (1997) — Current status of Panama Disease in Thailand. Fruits 51: 387–395.
Reinking, O.A. (1934) — The distribution of banana wilt. Philippine Journal of Science 53: 229–243.
Roperos, N.J. and Magnaye, L.V. (1991) — Status of banana diseases in the Philippines. In Banana Diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings of a Technical Meeting on Banana Diseases Affecting Banana and Plantain in Asia and the Pacific (Eds R.V. Valmayor, B.E. Umali, and C.P. Bejosano), pp. 52–56. INIBAP.
Sharrock, S. (1990) — Collecting Musa in Papua New Guinea. In Identification of Genetic Diversity in the Genus Musa: Proceedings of an international workshop held at Los Baños, Philippines, 5–10 September 1988 (Ed R.L. Jarrett), pp. 140–157. INIBAP, Montpellier, France.
Shaw, D.E. (1984) — Microorganisms in Papua New Guinea. Department of Primary Industry, Port Moresby, Research Bulletin 33.
Shepherd, K. (1990) — Observations on Musa taxonomy. In Identification of Genetic Diversity in the Genus Musa: Proceedings of an international workshop held at Los Baños, Philippines, 5–10 September 1988 (Ed R.L. Jarrett), pp. 158–165. INIBAP, Montpellier, France.
Shivas, R.G. and Philemon, E. (1996) — First record of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense on banana in Papua New Guinea. Australasian Plant Pathology 25: 260.
Shivas, R.G., Suyuko, S., Raga, N. and Hyde, K.D. (1996) — Some disease-associated microorganisms on plants in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Australasian Plant Pathology 25: 36–49.
Simmonds, N.W. (1956) — A banana collecting expedition to Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Journal of Tropical Agriculture 33: 251–270.
Simmonds, N.W. (1962) — The Evolution of the Bananas. Longmans, London.
Simmonds, N.W. (1966) — Bananas. 2nd edition. Longmans, London.
Simmonds, N.W. and Shepherd, K. (1955) — Taxonomy and origins of cultivated bananas. Journal of the Linneaen Society of Botany (London) 55: 302–312.
Singburaudom, N. (1991) — Status of banana diseases in Thailand. In Banana Diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings of a Technical Meeting on Banana Diseases Affecting Banana and Plantain in Asia and the Pacific (Eds R.V. Valmayor, B.E. Umali and C.P. Bejosano), pp. 84–93. INIBAP.
Stover, R.H. (1959) — Studies on Fusarium wilt of banana. IV Clonal differentiation among wild type isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense. Canadian Journal of Botany 37: 245–255.
Stover, R.H. (1962) — Fusarial Wilt (panama Disease) of Bananas and other Musa species. C.M.I. Kew, Surrey, UK.
Stover, R.H. and Buddenhagen, I.W. (1986) — Banana breeding: polyploidy, disease resistance and productivity. Fruits 41: 175–191.
Thompson, J.N. (1990) — Coevolution and the evolutionary genetics of interactions among plants and insects and pathogens. In Pests, Pathogens and Plant Communities (Eds J.J. Burdon and S.R. Leather), pp. 249–271. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
Vakili, N.G. (1965) — Fusarium wilt resistance in seedlings and mature plants of Musa species. Phytopathology 55: 135–140.
Waite, B.H. (1954) — Vascular disease of abacá or Manila hemp in Central America. Plant Disease Reporter 38: 575–578.
Waite, B.H. (1963) — Wilt of Heliconia spp. caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Race 3. Tropical Agriculture 40: 299–305.
Whitmore, T.C. (1981) — Wallace’s line and some other plants. In Wallace’s Line and Plate Tectonics (Ed T.C. Whitmore), pp. 70–80. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ploetz, R., Pegg, K. Fusarium wilt of banana and Wallace’s line: Was the disease originally restricted to his Indo-Malayan region?. Australasian Plant Pathology 26, 239–249 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1071/AP97039
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/AP97039