New Insights into Mango Malformation Disease Epidemiology Lead to a New Integrated Management Strategy for Subtropical Environments

Abstract Mango (Mangifera indica) is regarded as the king of fruits in India, where it has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years and has great cultural and religious significance. Many Indian mango cultivars originated in the fifteenth century when the best selections of mango seedlings were propagated by grafting and planted in large orchards, in some cases numbering 100,000 trees. With the arrival of voyagers to India from Europe, mango was soon established throughout the tropics and subtropics. Mango malformation disease (MMD) is one of the most important and destructive diseases of this crop. It affects inflorescences and vegetative portions of the plant. Although trees are not killed, the vegetative phase of the disease impedes canopy development and the floral phase reduces fruit yield dramatically; substantial economic losses can occur since malformed inflorescences do not bear fruit. Significant advances have been made in understanding the etiology of MMD, which is caused by more than one agent...