Abaca (Musa textilis Nee) Breeding in the Philippines - Industrial Crops: Breeding for BioEnergy and Bioproducts - page 271

Fig. 12.2 Symptoms and methods of transmission of different abaca diseases
The disease itself is caused by a virus very similar to the banana bunchy top virus
(BBTV) and transmitted by the aphid Pentalonia nigronervosa Coq. [ 10 ]. The
similarity of the abaca bunchy top virus (ABTV) with the BBTV was observed
by comparing the sequences of three genes of the replication initiation protein, the
coat protein, and the movement protein. These genes of the abaca bunchy top virus
shared 99 % homologies with the BBTV [ 11 ].
A mosaic-like disease in abaca has been known to exist since 1925; however, the
abaca mosaic disease was first described from an infection observed at the Odell
Plantation in Tagum, Davao del Norte, in 1933 [ 12 ]. In 1941, the Japanese planters
in Davao claimed that 50 % of abaca grown in Eastern Davao was infected because
of poor cultural management. The spread of the diseases was rapid for three
reasons. First, several aphid species can harbor and transmit the virus. Second,
the abandonment of plantations during the World War II left the disease free to
spread. Third, after the war, when the price of abaca fiber was good, there was a
frenzy to expand abaca production areas. Due to poor information, the planting
materials used were diseased. The economic cost of the disease is often estimated
from the reduction in fiber yield. There is also loss in income due to poorer fiber
quality. Fibers from mosaic-infested plants have higher percentage of stretch which