The date palm Phoenix dactylifera L. and its vascular fusariosis

Vascular fusariosis of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedenis (Foa). It is considered to be one of the most serious diseases, posing a permanent threat to North African palm groves, and has caused the disappearance of 20 million palm trees, including three million Algerian palm trees, since it first appeared in 1870. A collection of isolates representative of the diversity of Foa populations from symptomatic palm groves and three isolates collected from the rhizosphere were used in this work.