GMO Banana Varieties Resistant to Black Sigatoka and Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 (TR4)

“The goal of the initiative is to produce new disease-resistant banana varieties that resemble the popular Cavendish banana in terms of taste, appearance, and storage. The first batch of Yelloway-produced bananas is in the Philippines for field trials.” Chiquita said.

Panama wilt, specifically the Fusarium Tropical Race 4, is the latest race of the soil-borne pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense targeting the root system of a plant and causing blockage in the plant’s vascular system.

The lack of nutrient and water transport leads to plant death, and once established within a plantation, can cause complete yield loss. It is also capable of producing chlamydospores which have thick walls allowing the fungi to stay dormant in the soil for decades.

On the other hand, the Black Sigatoka Disease is caused by airborne fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet which can infect neighboring banana trees through wind, rain, and irrigation water splashes.

The disease causes leaf spots to occur that later on join together forming black patches of necrosis leading to decreased photosynthesis and defoliation making it one of the most economically devastating lead spot diseases of bananas in tropical regions.

Starting in 2020, the Yelloway Breeding Program was established and involved advances in gene mapping, plant breeding, laboratory testing, and field testing producing the first banana variety resistant to the specified fungal infections.

Currently, its plant prototype is nearing fruit-bearing stages in greenhouse environments and will undergo field trials in the Philippines and Indonesia — countries that are highly devastated by TR4 and Black Sigatoka — to determine its compatibility with a natural environment.