You just love eating bananas from the supermarket, right? Well, you better get your fill because a fungal infection is threatening to wipe out the yellow fruit that we all take for granted.
Most of the world’s banana crop is the Cavendish variety of the fruit, which replaced the previous type, Gros Michel, after that strain was wiped out by Panama disease, a fungal infection that infests banana trees. Now the Cavendish variety is succumbing to the same malady, which has decimated banana trees in Asia and Australia. It has yet to spread to South America, where most of the bananas sold in the U.S. are grown, but plant biologists say it’s inevitable. However, the disease does make the tree sprout purple stripes, which sounds like it might be an attractive—if deadly—addition to your garden.
Via Gawker
