Mango malformation disease and the associated Fusarium species.
Marasas W. F. O., Ploetz R. C., Wingfield M. J., Wingfield B. D., Steenkamp E. T.
Author Affiliation: Programme on Mycotoxins and Experimental Carcinogenesis (PROMEC), Medical Research Council, P.O. Box 19070, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
Phytopathology 96 : 667-672
Abstract : This paper reviews the mango malformation disease (MMD) and recent developments on the identity of the associated Fusarium spp. MMD occurs in Asia, Africa, and the Americas and was first reported in India in 1891. The vegetative form of MMD was first reproduced in 1966 with Fusarium moniliforme [Gibberella moniliformis] and the floral form with isolates of F. moniliforme var. subglutinans from both vegetative shoots and floral tissue. The fungi were subsequently recognized as F. subglutinans [G. fujikuroi var. subglutinans]. In 2002, a new species, F. mangiferae, was established based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences; it included strains of F. subglutinans from Egypt, Florida, Israel, Malaysia, and South Africa, some of which had been shown to cause MMD by artificial inoculation. At least three additional taxa have been associated with MMD: F. sterilihyphosum from Brazil and South Africa, and Fusarium sp. nov. and F. proliferatum (teleomorph: G. intermedia) from Malaysia. To date, Koch's postulates have not been completed with them. In the future, gene sequencing will be essential to identify the Fusarium spp. that are associated with MMD. Work remains to be done on the morphology, sexual compatibility, pathogenicity, and toxigenicity of these taxa.