Time for Chocolate: Current Understanding and New Perspectives on Cacao Witches’ Broom Disease Research

The causal agents of witches' broom and frosty pod rot of cacao (chocolate, Theobroma cacao) form a new lineage of Marasmiaceae.

The two most devastating diseases of cacao (Theobroma cacao)--the source of chocolate--in tropical America are caused by the fungi Crinipellis perniciosa (witches' broom disease) and Moniliophthora roreri (frosty pod rot or moniliasis disease). Despite the agricultural, socio-economic and environmental impact of these fungi, most aspects of their life cycles are unknown, and the phylogenetic re...

The fungus, the witches' broom, and the chocolate tree: deciphering the molecular interplay between Moniliophthora perniciosa and Theobroma cacao.

Moniliophthora perniciosa, the causal agent of witches' broom disease of cacao: what's new from this old foe?

UNLABELLED Moniliophthora perniciosa (=Crinipellis perniciosa) causes one of the three main fungal diseases of Theobroma cacao (cacao), the source of chocolate. This pathogen causes Witches' broom disease (WBD) and has brought about severe economic losses in all of the cacao-growing regions to which it has spread with yield reductions that range from 50 to 90%. Cacao production in South America...

Genetic and Biological Diversity of Trichoderma stromaticum, a Mycoparasite of the Cacao Witches'-Broom Pathogen.

ABSTRACT The witches'-broom disease, caused by the basidiomycete Crinipellis perniciosa, is the most limiting factor for cacao cultivation in Brazil. Trichoderma stromaticum is a mycoparasite of the witches'-broom pathogen of cacao that is currently being applied in the field to manage the disease in Bahia State, Brazil. In this work, molecular and traditional methods were used to study the gen...

Expression analysis of transcription factors from the interaction between cacao and Moniliophthora perniciosa (Tricholomataceae).

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is one of the most important tropical crops; however, production is threatened by numerous pathogens, including the hemibiotrophic fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa, which causes witches' broom disease. To understand the mechanisms that lead to the development of this disease in cacao, we focused our attention on cacao transcription factors (TFs), which act as master regu...