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Ceratocystis Cacaofunesta
''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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ascomycete
Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defining feature of this fungal group is the "ascus" (), a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores, called ascospores, are formed. However, some species of the Ascomycota are asexual, meaning that they do not have a sexual cycle and thus do not form asci or ascospores. Familiar examples of sac fungi include morels, truffles, brewers' and bakers' yeast, dead man's fingers, and cup fungi. The fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens (loosely termed "ascolichens") such as '' Cladonia'' belong to the Ascomycota. Ascomycota is a monophyletic group (it contains all descendants of one common ancestor). Previously placed in the Deuteromycota along with asexual species from other fungal taxa, asexual (or anamorphic) ascomycetes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theobroma Cacao
''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest producer of cocoa beans in 2018 was Ivory Coast, 2.2 million tons. Description Its leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, long and broad. Flowers The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; this is known as cauliflory. The flowers are small, diameter, with pink calyx. The floral formula, used to represent the structure of a flower using numbers, is ✶ K5 C5 A(5°+52) (5). While many of the world's flowers are pollinated by bees (Hymenoptera) or butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera), cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, ''Forcipomyia'' midges in the subfamily Forcipomyiinae. Using the natural pollinator ''Forcipomyia'' midges for ''Theobroma cacao'' was shown to have more fruit production than usin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratocystis Fimbriata
''Ceratocystis fimbriata'' is a fungus and a plant pathogen, attacking such diverse plants as the sweet potato (''black rot'') and the tapping panels of the Para rubber tree (''moldy rot''). It is a diverse species that attacks a wide variety of annual and perennial plants. There are several host-specialized strains, some of which, such as '' Ceratocystis platani'' that attacks plane trees, are now described as distinct species. Taxonomy ''Ceratocystis fimbriata'', the type species of the genus '' Ceratocystis'', was originally described on the sweet potato (''Ipomoea batatus'') in 1890. It has since been found on a wide variety of annual and perennial plants. It is a large, diverse complex of species that cause wilt-type diseases of many economically important plants. There are thought to be three broad geographic clades, the North American, the Latin American and the Asian clades. It is thought likely that ''Ceratocystis fimbriata'' contains many undescribed, hidden species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xylem
Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem. The basic function of xylem is to transport water from roots to stems and leaves, but it also transports nutrients. The word ''xylem'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (''xylon''), meaning "wood"; the best-known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout a plant. The term was introduced by Carl Nägeli in 1858. Structure The most distinctive xylem cells are the long tracheary elements that transport water. Tracheids and vessel elements are distinguished by their shape; vessel elements are shorter, and are connected together into long tubes that are called ''vessels''. Xylem also contains two other type of cells: parenchyma and fibers. Xylem can be found: * in vascular bundles, present in non-woody plants and non-woody parts of woody plants * in secondary xylem, laid down by a meristem called the vascular cambium in woody plants * as part of a stelar arrangement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Introduced Species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized. The process of human-caused introduction is distinguished from biological colonization, in which species spread to new areas through "natural" (non-human) means such as storms and rafting. The Latin expression neobiota captures the characteristic that these species are ''new'' biota to their environment in terms of established biological network (e.g. food web) relationships. Neobiota can further be divided into neozoa (also: neozoons, sing. neozoon, i.e. animals) and neop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest by area. Bahia's capital is the city of Salvador (formerly known as "Cidade do São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos", literally "City of the Saint Savior of the Bay of All the Saints"), on a spit of land separating the Bay of All Saints from the Atlantic. Once a monarchial stronghold dominated by agricultural, slaving, and ranching interests, Bahia is now a predominantly working-class industrial and agricultural state. The state is home to 7% of the Brazilian population and produces 4.2% of the country's GDP. Name The name of the state derives from the earlier captaincy of Bahia de Todos os Santos, named for Bay of All Saints (' in modern Portuguese), a major feature of its coastline. The bay itself was named by the explorer Ame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fungal Tree Pathogens And Diseases
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which by one traditional classification include Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista. A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesize. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related organisms, named the ''Eumycota'' (''true fun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microascales
The Microascales are an order of fungi in the class Sordariomycetes, subclass Hypocreomycetidae. This is a relatively small order of mostly saprobic fungi that live in soil, rotting vegetation and dung. Some species are plant pathogens, such as ''Ceratocystis fimbriata'', transmitted by beetles to living trees and causing cacao wilt and many other economically important diseases. Species in the genus '' Pseudallescheria'' (family Microascaceae) are pathogenic to humans The order was circumscribed in 1980. Description The Microascales are characterized by a lack of stroma, black perithecial ascomata with long necks or rarely with cleistothecial ascomata that lack paraphyses. They have roughly spherical and short-lived asci that develop singly or in chains. Nonseptate, colorless ascospores often have ornamenting ridges or wings. The anamorphs of the family Microascaceae produce percurrently proliferating conidiogenous cells (annellides) and sometimes chlamydospore-like or aleuri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
