ABSTRACT
Frosty pod rot (FPR) of cacao (Theobroma cacao) is caused by the basidiomycete Moniliophthora roreri. Spores of M. roreri germinate and penetrate the pod surface soon after landing there and establish a systemic pod infection, which can remain latent for two months (Evans, 1981). During the essentially non-symptomatic phase, the seed chamber, where the actual cacao beans normally mature, is completely destroyed. Only then does the pathogen emerge to the pod surface, where it causes brown lesions, followed by rapid and prolific sporulation within one week (Leach et al., 2002). The fact that much of the pathogen development and damage takes place deep inside an intact pod poses significant challenges to FPR management by any agent that requires spatial proximity for effective control (ten Hoopen and Krauss, 2016 and references therein).
