First record of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense on Cavendish bananas in Western Australia

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp, cubense, was isolated from the discoloured vascular tissue of wilted Cavendish (cultivar Williams) bananas at Carnarvon, Western Australia. This is the first record of Fusarium wilt on Cavendish bananas in Western Australia. The pathogen was detected on 10 of 153 plantations surveyed at Carnarvon. It was probably introduced with and spread from diploid bananas of uncertain origin in windbreaks, which were known to be affected by Fusarium wilt at Carnarvon as early as 1949. Both waterlogging and drought may have predisposed Cavendish bananas in the field to infection. Glasshouse pathogenicity tests with isolates of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense from Carnarvon showed that they were highly pathogenic on 4-month-old plants of Cavendish cultivars, Williams and Grande Naine.