COLOMBIAN VANILLA AND ITS MICROBIOTA, I First report of Fusarium taxa from both wild and cultivated species

摘要

Vanilla is a genus of tropical orchids with some fragrant species few of which have growing economic importance as the source of the original vanilla flavour: Vanilla planifolia. This crop is reproduced asexually and its genetic variability is quite low, which means that it is highly vulnerable to pathogens. Among them, Fusarium is important around the world. Here I report for the first time the presence of various Fusarium taxa (F. oxysporum f. sp. loti, F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis, F. solani, and Fusarium sp.), as foliar endosymbionts in Colombian Vanilla. Species sampled were: Vanilla planifolia, V. odorata, and a wild species not yet identified. Additionally, Colletotrichum boninense, an anthracnose-producing fungus, was also found as an endophyte in Vanilla leaves. The Colombian government is promoting alternative crops to coffee, and Vanilla is a promising candidate. It is important to study the diversity and interactions between Vanilla and Fusarium, in order to both understand the pathogenesis and contribute to control of a potential threat to Vanilla cultivations.La vainilla es una orquidea aromatica nativa de America que pertenece al genero Vanilla y se constituye en la unica especie de las orquideas con un producto comestible (V. planifolia). Este cultivo se reproduce asexualmente y posee una angosta base genetica, razon por la cual es vulnerable a los patogenos. Entre estos se destacan los virus y varias especies del genero Fusarium. En este manuscrito se reporta por primera vez la presencia de Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. loti, F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis, F. solani y una cepa de Fusarium no iden-tificada, como endofitos foliares en Vanilla planifolia, V. odorata y una vainilla silvestre no identificada. Adicionalmente, una cepa de Colletotrichum boninense, un hongo productor de antracnosis, fue aislada tambien. El gobierno de Colombia esta promoviendo los cultivos diferentes al cafe y la vainilla se presenta como una interesante alternativa, razon por la cual es importante conocer los posibles patogenos que tendra que enfrentar esta planta cuando su cultivosea mas extensive.