Cocoa diseases: witches' broom

Description

Witches' broom, caused by the hemibiotrophic basidiomycete Moniliophthora perniciosa, is one of the most important cocoa diseases. The pathogen co-evolved with cocoa in the Amazon River basin and is currently restricted to South and Central America. Other cocoa-producing regions of the world are at risk because the introduction of the pathogen would greatly impact cocoa production. In the last few years new technologies such as NGS, bioinformatics, transformation, and the establishment of a model host-plant interaction accelerated the gain of information and have enabled significant advances in our knowledge of witches’ broom. In this chapter, we review the information on witches' broom, including the latest information on disease physiology, genomics and transcriptomics, diversity, and management practices.

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 Geographical distribution and historical perspective 3 Pathogen taxonomy, biology and disease cycle 4 Diversity, host range and symptomatology 5 Omics of M. perniciosa 6 Fungal pathogenicity and disease physiology 7 Plant development and disease epidemiology 8 Disease control: phytosanitation, and chemical and biological control 9 Disease control: genetic resistance and integrated management 10 Concluding remarks and outlook 11 Where to look for further information 12 Acknowledgements 13 References