Consortium Sequences Black Sigatoka Fungus

Black Sigatoka, also known as black leaf streak, is a leaf spot disease of bananas currently controlled by frequent applications of fungicides. Yield is significantly reduced in infected plants, and the disease represents the worse threat to banana plants worldwide, as it is very aggressive, fast spreading and attacks the main commercial varieties of banana. In a major breakthrough, researchers from EMBRAPA, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, in collaboration with colleagues from the Netherlands, the United States, France, and Mexico, have succeeded in sequencing the genome of the fungus, Mycosphaerella fijiensis, which is responsible for the disease

Researchers plan to use the information obtained from the five thousand fungal genes in conjunction with the information from the banana genome, to unlock the keys of the disease. “Combining the information of the two genomes will allow us to determine the genes responsible for infection, and to design control mechanisms to develop commercial varieties of bananas resistant to Black Sigatoka”, said Natália Martins, project coordinator at EMBRAPA. “The sequencing of the [M. fijiensis] genome is, without a doubt, a very important tool to speed up the genetic improvement of banana, both by conventional methods and by molecular methods”, added the researcher.

Read more at: http://www.embrapa.br/imprensa/noticias/2007/outubro/2a-semana/cientistas-sequenciam-o-genoma-do-fungo-causador-da-pior-doenca-da-bananeira