New Geographical Insights of the Latest Expansion of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 Into the Greater Mekong Subregion (2018)

The study reports the presence of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) in "Cavendish" plantations in Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, therefore they performed a combination of classical morphology, DNA sequencing and phenotyping assays to reveal the close relationship between FOC R4T strains in the increasingly banana-prone Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), by single nucleotide polymorphism analysis a phylogeny of FOC R4T was initiated in three geographical areas: GMS, Indian subcontinent and Middle East that revealed three distinct sub-lineages of the pathogen, which emphasises the need for awareness campaigns and strengthening of quarantine measures.