Pathogenicity of Fungi Associated with Crown Rot of Bananas in Latin Americaon Grande Naine and Disease-Resistant Hybrid Bananas. Douglas H. Marin, Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695. Turner B. Sutton, Department of Plant Pathology, Sylvia M. Blankenship, Department of Horticultural Science, and William H. Swallow, Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695. Plant Dis. 80:525. Accepted for publication 26 January 1996. Copyright 1996 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-80-0525.

Fungi associated with crown rot of bananas were isolated and identified from fruit obtained from Mexico. Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Ecuador in October and November 1993. Fusarium semitectum and Penicillium spp. were isolated most frequently. In vitro and in vivo growth of five fungi isolated from Costa Rican bananas (E semitectum, F. moniliforme, a Penicillium sp., Gliocladium roseum, and a Gliocladium sp.) was determined. The optimum temperatures for growth of F. moniliforme, F. semitectum, a Penicillium sp., a Gliocladium sp., and G. roseum were 24.3, >28.O, 21.8, 24.1 and 29.6°C, respectively. All fungi, except the Penicillium sp., grew profusely on the surface of crowns. After inoculation of crowns, F. moniliforme and F. semitectum caused the greatest amount of rot. Hybrids recently released by the Honduran Foundation of Agricultural Research (Fundacion Hondurena de Investigacion Agricola, FHIA), FHIA 1 (Goldfinger) and FHIA 2, were partially resistant to the crown rot fungi. Isolates of F. semitectum and Penicillium sp. from Costa Rica grew on potato dextrose agar amended with 10 mg liter^-1 of thiabendazole, which may indicate a reduced sensitivity of these species to thiabendazole.