Ceratocystis cacaofunesta
species of fungus
Ceratocystis cacaofunesta is an ascomycete fungus that causes a wilt disease in cacao trees. It has led to significant economic losses in Latin America.
Taxonomy
Once considered to be a form of Ceratocystis fimbriata, the fungus was described as a new species in 2005. The specific epithet "cacaofunesta" means "cacao-killing". Two closely related sublineages exist within this species, one centered in western Ecuador and the other containing isolates from Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica.
Ceratocystis wilt of cacao
The disease known as "Ceratocystis wilt of cacao" (or "Mal de machete") is a serious disease of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) in Latin America. The fungus is indigenous to Central and South America.
This fungus is able to penetrate cacao trees through stem wounds that are caused either by insects or through infected cutting tools. Wounds made by harvesting pods, removing stem sprouts or weeding may become infected. The disease is a systemic infection that damages the entire plant.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ceratocystis cacaofunesta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.