Verticillium theobromae. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Verticillium theobromae. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: On Musa; less frequently on Bambusa, Heliconia bihai and H. brasiliensis. DISEASE: 'Cigar end' of banana. On fruit in situ, necrosis begins at the pistillate end, the skin becoming folded and shrunk; the dead floral parts tend to become persistent. The powdery, greyish conidia form on the shrivelled black end of the fruit giving rise to the appearance from which the disease gets its name (11: 312). The fungus is also one of the members of a pathogenic complex which cause a rot of the crowns in the shipment of boxed bananas (42: 622; 45, 160, 2482). The internal rot on the fruit in the field is a dry one in contrast to the wet rot of Trachysphaera fructigena (CMI Descript. 229). Verticillium theobromae may also be associated with black pitting and spotting of the fruit. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Widespread in the tropics (CMI Map 146, ed. 2, 1966). TRANSMISSION: No specific studies reported, presumably air-dispersed. The fungus is a common inhabitant on plant debris in banana fields.