Penja pepper (Piper nigrum) produced in Cameroon has long been recognized for its exceptional organoleptic quality. The pepper vine is grown using a support tree (Spondias mombin) in Cameroon. A root disease is associated with plant deaths in both plants. The disease symptoms are characterized by collar cracking and gummosis and the disease was tentatively identified as Armillaria root rot. In this work the extent of the problem was characterized by surveying 35 farms in Cameroon. Samples were taken from diseased support trees and pepper vines. Support trees exhibiting typical symptoms were found in approximately one third of the surveyed farms. In these farms, disease incidence and Pepper vine mortality ranged from 1.3 to 50% and 1.2 to 87.7%, respectively. Analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) locus suggested that the isolates collected from S. mombin and P. nigrum are most likely, which is a first for both hosts, represented by Armillaria camerunensis (Henn.) Volk & Burdsall, a fungus previously associated with declining cacao trees in Cameroon. Given the increasing demand for Penja pepper and the great damaging potential of this root rot, research on management strategies should be prioritized.

中文翻译：

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蜜环菌根腐病威胁喀麦隆的 Penja 胡椒 (Piper nigrum L.)

喀麦隆生产的 Penja 胡椒（Piper nigrum）因其卓越的感官品质而广为人知。胡椒藤是在喀麦隆使用支持树（Spondias mombin）种植的。根病与两种植物的植物死亡有关。病害症状为衣领开裂和粘胶，初步鉴定为蜜环根腐病。在这项工作中，通过对喀麦隆 35 个农场的调查来表征问题的严重程度。样本取自患病的支持树和胡椒藤。在大约三分之一的被调查农场中发现了表现出典型症状的支持树。在这些农场中，疾病发生率和胡椒藤死亡率分别为 1.3% 至 50% 和 1.2% 至 87.7%。核糖体内部转录间隔区 (ITS) 基因座的分析表明，从 S. mombin 和 P. nigrum 收集的分离物最有可能，这是两个宿主的第一个，以蜜环菌 (Henn.) Volk & Burdsall 为代表，以前与喀麦隆可可树衰退有关的真菌。鉴于对 Penja 辣椒的需求不断增加以及这种根腐病的巨大破坏潜力，应优先研究管理策略。