The ravages of Panama Disease in that particular cultivar may cause a shift in variety selection, subsequently causing a major change in the physical plant structure of banana plantations.
Panama disease (Fusarium oxysporum) is caused by tiny worms which feed on the roots of the plants, block the water vessels and reduce production.
In early 2006, Souder added, to a bill about the office of the drug czar, a provision calling for the fungus Fusarium oxysporum to be used as a biological control agent against drug crops in foreign countries.
Fusarium oxysporum is a common inhabitant of soil and produces three types of asexual spores; macroconidia, microconidia and chlamydospores.