Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: economy

#068: Frosty Pod Rot Disease of Cacao Trees 1

Fungus Fact

#068: Frosty Pod Rot Disease of Cacao Trees

Frosty Pod Rot, caused by the fungus Moniliophthora roreri, is one of the most significant pathogens of cacao trees (Theobroma cacao). The disease has been around a long time: it was first recognized in Ecuador in 1917 and first described in 1933.  roreri likely evolved in Columbia, where the greatest diversity of the species is located and where cultivated cacao trees grow near closely related trees.  Up until the 1950’s, Frosty Pod Rot was limited to northwestern South America.  Since then, it has spread throughout Central America and into Peru and Venezuela.  In these areas, Frosty Pod Rot is the most destructive cacao disease, resulting in the loss of about 30-40% of total production.  The disease has not yet made it to Asia or Africa, where most of the world’s chocolate is produced, but it may just be a matter of time.

#066: Ophiocordyceps sinensis 1

Fungus Fact

#066: Ophiocordyceps sinensis

This fungus parasitizes caterpillars in the Himalayas and produces small, spike-like mushrooms. These mushrooms are highly prized for their supposed medicinal properties and have brought a lot of new wealth and new problems to the people living in the Himalayas.  Ophiocordyceps sinensis fruiting bodies are known as “Yartsa Gunbu” in Tibetan and “D­ōng Chóng Xià Cǎo” in Chinese, both of which translate to “winter worm, summer grass.”  The English names for the fungus are much less colorful: “Caterpillar Fungus” or (more recently) “Himalayan Viagra.”  sinensis (Fungi, Ascomycota, Sordariomycetes, Hypocreales, Ophiocordycipitaceae) is native to the meadows of the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau and can be found from 3,000m to 5,000m above sea level.  The parasitic fungus infects a variety of species of ghost moth larvae that live underground.  It initially infects the caterpillars in the late summer.  By winter, the fungus is ready to kill its host.  At that time, it...

#049: Coffee Rust [Archived] 1

Archived

#049: Coffee Rust [Archived]

Note: This is an archived post. You can find the current version of this post here. Coffee Rust (la roya in Spanish) is a disease of coffee plants that is caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix. If you enjoy a fine cup of coffee, then this is one fungus you should be very interested in.  The Coffee Rust is currently ravaging coffee trees in Central America, where 60% to 75% of the region’s crops are infected with the pathogen.  The result of this has been a 15% drop in Central America’s coffee output and a corresponding loss of more than 100,000 jobs over the last two years.  The high-end Arabica trees are particularly susceptible to the disease.  America’s major coffee producers have been able to find enough coffee to meet demand without a noticeable impact on price*, but smaller, specialty brewers are having a harder time.  And we haven’t seen...