Fungal and Oomycete Diseases of Oil Palm

Dear Colleagues,

This important Special Issue (SI) will consider all aspects of fungal and oomycete diseases of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). The most important pathogenic organisms in these respects are the fungi Ganoderma boninense, which causes basal stem rot and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. elaeidis, which causes fusarium wilt. The oomycete, Phytophthora palmivora, which causes bud rot, is also of great interest. Other diseases have been associated with G. boninense and alternative names have been used for the fungus; papers on these topics will be considered. Manuscripts on recent advances in the taxonomy of all the above organisms are welcome. BSR is prevalent in Southeast Asia, whereas fusarium wilt is associated with diseases in Africa and bud rot appears confined to South America. Manuscripts on the occurrence of disease in unusual regions are requested. There have been numerous reviews of BSR recently and we do not encourage the submission of more.

Diagnostic methods and control of the diseases and especially those which have been tested under field conditions are required. Information on the current incidences of disease could form the basis of acceptable papers.

The SI will cover the fields of metabolomics and genomics of the diseases. There have been reports on mycotoxin production from G. boninense and papers on this issue are encouraged, especially if production is confirmed and if mycotoxins were not detected after analysis. The molecular basis of pathogenicity is of great interest to the editor as is the biochemistry of the diseases.

Modelling of disease progression under future climate is an area that requires more work. Laboratory research on disease intensity under potential future climate conditions would be of interest. Studies focusing on mitigation of diseases with respect to climate change are required. There is increasing interest in the ability of oil palm to sequestrate CO₂, compared to other crops and studies on the effect on CO₂ sequestration by oil palm with diseases would be of interest.

It is intended that the Special Issue will represent a major advance in the field of oil palm diseases that will assist in the sustainability of the oil palm industry.  

Dr. R. Russell M. Paterson
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Elaeis guineensis 
• Ganoderma 
• Phytophthora
• Fusarium 
• Malaysia
• Colombia