Fusarium wilt in banana: unraveling molecular aspects of host–pathogen interaction and resistance mechanism

Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are an important socio-economic fruit crop grown worldwide. Their production across the regions where they are grown, is largely hampered by pests and diseases. Fusarium wilt, also known as Panama wilt is a disastrous disease of bananas caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc). The fungus is classified into Foc race 1 (R1), Foc race 2, and Foc race 4 based on host specificity. Among these, race 1 and 4 have threatened the survival and existence of banana crop production. Although enormous attempts were made, including chemicals, biological control agents, and cultural methods, they were all found to be ineffective. Understanding the diversity of pathogens, their genome organization, effector molecules, the mechanism of infection, and the molecular basis of host defense through banana genome sequencing, gene expression studies, and proteomic profile analysis will help to formulate strategies to develop resistant cultivars and manage crop production. Further, the identification of genes involved in various aspects of resistance like early events of disease progression, signaling, pathogenicity, autophagy, cell wall strengthening, etc., would help in the genetic modification of bananas. Several transgenic approaches have recently been employed as tools for transferring resistance genes from wild relatives and gene editing techniques, which might serve as a newer strategy to develop resistant cultivars. Keeping this in mind, the present review summarises the molecular-level understanding of the Fusarium pathogen, the mechanism of resistance in bananas, and genetic modification studies for the generation of resistant cultivars. © 2023, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Society for Plant Research.