Long-drawn Battle with Oil Palm's Most Dreaded Disease May End Soon

A collaborative effort between the Malaysian Genomic Resource Centre (MGRC), and Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) has successfully yielded a breakthrough in dealing with the 50-year battle against the Ganoderma Basal Stem Rot (BSR) – the most lethal and incurable disease in oil palm caused by the bracket fungus.

MGRC's groundbreaking sequencing of the Ganoderma genome will help identify the biological photo-fit and make up of the enemy and help scientists gather information and the best attack mode through post sequencing R&D. The sequence data is made available to the public by MGRC at www.mgrc.com.my, making it the first company in the world with FELDA to offer this information for free to the global scientific community.

MGRC Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Stephen Rudd, said, "By sharing the Ganoderma genome with the wider scientific community, we hope to accelerate R&D towards a solution for the oil palm industry. While MGRC will continue to analyse the genome of this deadly fungus to obtain in-depth genetic information, we hope that a community effort will produce faster results than one group going at it alone."

CEO of FELDA Agricultural Services, S. Palaniappan, said, "The threat of Ganoderma BSR to our oil palm industry is very serious and real." Ganoderma is a major concern in Malaysia as the export earnings from oil palm products reached RM59.77 mil (US20 mil) in 2010. With a total oil palm area of 4.85 million hectares, a potential 30% to 70% loss of oil palm due to BSR has substantial implications to the planting resources and revenue.

For more on this news, contact Mahalectumy Arujanan of Malaysia Biotechnology Information Center at maha@bic.org.my.