Scientists have made an important discovery that could help protect the world’s bananas from a dangerous disease, a new study reveals.
The bananas we commonly eat, known as Cavendish bananas, are at risk from a plant disease known as fusarium wilt. This disease destroyed other types of bananas and caused major losses in the 1950s.
However, the recent study shows that the current disease threatening bananas did not come from the same strain that caused such damage in the past. The findings also suggest there may be a way to stop the disease from spreading further.
A study published on Friday, August 16th in the journal Nature Microbiology could help prevent what some experts are calling a potential “banana apocalypse,” according to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Gros Michel bananas wiped out in the 1950s
Li-Jun Ma, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the university, emphasized that the bananas we eat today are different from those enjoyed by earlier generations.
She explained that the previous variety, known as Gros Michel, was nearly wiped out by a Fusarium disease outbreak in the 1950s and is now almost extinct.
There are many types of wild bananas, and farmers grow different kinds. However, the Cavendish banana is the one you’ll most often find in stores. Nearly all bananas shipped around the world are of this variety, according to the Royal Botanic Gardens in the UK.
Researchers bred Cavendish bananas to withstand the fusarium wilt that wiped out Gros Michel bananas. In the 1990s, however, a new version of the disease appeared, which began affecting Cavendish bananas, too. Since then, this popular banana has been at risk. Fusarium wilt, like bananas, has several types, and each one attacks a different plant, as mentioned in the statement.
Low nitric oxide could help to control the disease
When scientists compared 36 different Fusarium strains from various parts of the world, they found that the strain behind the current outbreak uses specific genes to create fungal nitric oxide to attack banana plants.
While the researchers are still unsure how these genes allow the disease to infect Cavendish bananas, they noticed that the disease was less harmful when these genes were removed. This finding suggests that lowering nitric oxide levels might be key to stopping the disease.
The new study may offer hope for protecting our favorite bananas, but Ma pointed out that the real issue is monocropping, which means planting the same crop year after year. As long as we continue to depend on just one variety of bananas, they will remain vulnerable to diseases.
