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Phytophthora
palmivora
Overview
Phytophthora palmivora (E. J. Butler) E. J. Butler (1919) is a cosmopolitan pathogen with a
wide host range, including some very important economic crops such as cacao, papaya, black
pepper, rubber, coconut, and citrus. The center of origin is believed to be southeastern Asia
(McHaw and Coffey, 1994). In 1907, Butler originally described a new species, Pythium
palmivorum, from palms and coconut. In 1918 it was reclassified as Phytophthora
palmivora (R einking, 1923). P. palmivora was placed in morphological group II by Stamps
et al. (1990) and in clade 4 (Balci et al., 2008; Cooke et al., 2000) on the basis of ITS
sequences of genomic rDNA.
Etymology: From Palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer), one of the tree species from which the
pathogen was originally isolated.
Morphology
P. palmivora is heterothallic with amphigynous antheridia and spherical oogonia. The
caducous sporangia are papillate, varying in shape from ovoid-ellipsoid (Erwin and Ribeiro,
1996) to obpyriform (Q-Bank). Chlamydospores are terminal and intercalary averaging 33
m in diameter.
Terminal chlamydospore of P.
palmivora (left), P. palmivoraoogonia with antheridia (right)View more images...
Phylogenetic tree
from http://www.phytophthoradb.org/species.php
Growth
Colony morphology on V8 is a stellate pattern with aerial mycelium; hyphae are coralloid.
Growth on CMA is sparse with no aerial mycelium. Growth occurs over the temperature
range of 11 to 35 C; optimal temperature for growth is 27.5 to 30 C.
P. palmivora also causes bud rot and fruit rot of coconut in wildland and agricultural settings.
On other hosts, P. palmivora causes a range of symptoms such as root rot, cankers, and leaf
blight. Economically important agricultural crops include durian, citrus, rubber, mango, black
pepper, and papaya.
Educational materials
Phytophthora palmivora
Organic cocoa production: a guide for farmer field schools in Sierra Leone
References
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