Arrows indicate loss of apical dominance in an infected T. A healthy plant is shown in the left panel and a green broom in the right. perniciosa infection triggers loss of apical dominance and the formation of green brooms. perniciosa can tolerate high levels of fungicides, and there is no known treatment for witches’ broom disease. The brooms become brown and eventually perish, giving rise to small, pink basidiocarps, which release millions of fungal spores capable of repeating the cycle in neighboring trees. Two to three months after infection, the disease enters the necrotrophic stage of development ( Evans, 1980). A key feature of the biotrophic stage of the disease is that the infected shoots lose apical dominance and morph into swollen structures called green brooms (see figure), which divert the plant’s energy from effective growth. Once the fungus enters a susceptible tree through stomata or wounds, it slowly grows between living plant cells. perniciosa is the causal agent of witches’ broom disease, which results in yield reductions of 50 to 90% in infected regions ( Meinhardt et al., 2008). But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” An aggressive and intractable hemibiotrophic fungus, Moniliophthora perniciosa, is ravaging chocolate tree ( Theobroma cacao) plantations in many American countries, threatening livelihoods and the billion dollar cacao industry, and jeopardizing the world’s most beloved treat. ![]() ![]() As American cartoonist Charles Schulz once put it: “All you need is love.
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