Theobroma cacao, the source of chocolate, is affected by destructive diseases wherever it is
grown. Some diseases are endemic; however, as cacao was disseminated from the Amazon …

Fungi are often inconspicuous in nature and this means it is all too easy to overlook their
importance. Often referred to as the “Forgotten Kingdom”, fungi are key components of life …

The quality of commercial cocoa beans, the principal raw material for chocolate production,
relies on the combination of factors that include the type of planting material, the agricultural …

Abstract Background The basidiomycete fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa is the causal
agent of Witches' Broom Disease (WBD) in cacao (Theobroma cacao). It is a hemibiotrophic …

Significant scientific advances to elucidate the Moniliophthora perniciosa pathosystem have
been achieved in recent years, but the molecular biology of this pathogen-host interaction is …

The hemibiotrophic basidiomycete Moniliophthora perniciosa causes witches' broom
disease of Theobroma cacao. Analysis of the M. perniciosa draft genome led to the …

There is a growing demand for cocoa. However, cultivation is dependent on ageing trees
with low yields and increasing vulnerability to disease. There is growing concern about the …

Chocolate is a complex sample with a high content of organic compounds and its analysis
generally involves digestion procedures that might include the risk of losses and/or …

Witches' broom disease (WBD) of cacao differs from other typical hemibiotrophic plant
diseases by its unusually long biotrophic phase. Plant carbon sources have been proposed …

The genome sequence of the hemibiotrophic fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa revealed
genes possibly participating in the RNAi machinery. Therefore, studies were performed in …