This was my first research abstract for the departmental seminar. I've presented 10 minutes talk to the all postgrads and lecturers. The presentation went very well but of course I am a bit nervous. This is my first experience to give a talk to different audience and perhaps it'll be even better next time.


Vascular wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. elaeidis (Foe) invades the host xylem and causes a devastating disease of oil palm in West and Central Africa and parts of South America. Nevertheless, this disease has not been reported in South East Asia, in spite of long term importation for breeding purposes of African seed and pollen, now known to be contaminated with Foe. Malaysia is the largest palm oil producer in the world and Foe remains a major threat to this industry.

Therefore, this study is being conducted in order to help Malaysia avoid and/or be prepared for this potential problem. Molecular diagnostic tools are being developed for rapid detection and quantification of Foe in diseased plant tissue, soil, seed and pollen. These tools can be used for quarantine purposes of any imported materials and to test infection of putative resistant palm genotypes. The only practicable control measure for this disease is breeding for disease resistant progeny. Hence, we intend to establish a small scale nursery trial for optimizing selection of resistant palm lines and to study the expression of resistance or tolerance of oil palm to Foe infection.

Treatment by fungicides is undesirable and largely unsuccessful for this disease. For that reason, we will evaluate the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma for potential biological control. Also we will investigate the possibility of Foe-suppressive soils in Malaysia in order to explain the non-appearance of this vascular disease there and possibly to reveal other potential biocontrol agents. Field work on the disease (detection; epidemiology; pathogen variation) will be conducted in Cameroon.

Hefni Rusli