Especialidades JA/Naturaleza/Hongos/Fusarium oxysporum

Fusarium oxysporum es una especie de hongo causante de la enfermedad de Panamá en los bananeros y de más de un centenar de enfermedades en otras tantas especies vegetales. Coloniza los conductos xilemáticos de la planta, bloqueando y tapando los vasos, lo que determina la aparición de síntomas de marchitamiento de hoja, amarilleo y eventualmente necrosis y muerte total de la planta.

Interest in Fusarium oxysporum as a pesticide was first raised after the discovery in the 1960s that it was the causative agent in the destruction of the Hawaiian coca population.

The United States government was involved in a controversial program to use Fusarium oxysporum for the eradication of coca in Colombia and other Andean countries, but these plans were cancelled by president Bill Clinton who was concerned that the unilateral use of a biological agent would be perceived by the rest of the world as biological warfare. The Andean nations have since banned its use throughout the region. Use of biological agents to kill crops is potentially illegal under the Biological Weapons Convention.