ABSTRACT Bud rot (BR) caused by Phytophthora palmivora and lethal wilt (LW) whose causal agent is unknown, are two diseases currently posing a threat to the oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis . Jacq) industry. BR, first reported in 1964, has destroyed more than 85,000 ha. LW, first reported in 1994 in the Llanos Orientales in Colombia, has destroyed more than 5,000 ha. Chlorophyll a fluorescence is useful as a provider of information about the efficiency of the photosynthetic process when plants are subjected to biotic or abiotic stresses. Oil palms affected by BR and LW showed anomalies in the photosynthetic system, manifested by reductions in Fv / F M and ΦPSII. Changes in ΦPSII, variable fluorescence yield ( Fv ) and maximum fluorescence in light-adapted leaves ( F M ’ ) were observed from the start of BR infection. The most sensitive and early indicators of LW disease were leaf temperature and basal fluorescence ( F 0 ). Fv/F 0 significantly changed in diseased palms, indicating problems with movement of electrons through the electron transport chain. Leaf temperature changed in response to both diseases, but variation was greater in LW. We concluded that damage to the photochemical system caused by the diseases affected the processes by which the plant captures and transports energy, causing a physiological imbalance in the plant reflected in the observed variations in chlorophyll a fluorescence and leaf temperature. The two parameters began to change early in the onset of BR and before visual symptoms appeared in LW, which is very important to the management of both diseases, the foundation of which is early detection.

Durante 6 años se realizaron las evaluaciones mensuales de palmas sembradas en un sitio de alta fuente de inóculo de la enfermedad pudrición de cogollo para determinar su tolerancia, resistencia o susceptibilidad a la enfermedad. Se sembraron palmas E. guineensis tipo dura e híbridos interespecíficosOxG (E. oleifera × E. guineensis) Coari × La Me. De los materiales evaluados, los códigos de las palmas E. guineensis alcanzaron los niveles más altos de incidencia, llegando a un 90% de sus palmas afectadas en menos de dos años de evaluación; frente a los híbridos que si bien presentaron susceptibilidad, el grado de afección no superó el de las palmas tipo dura. Al evaluar la severidad de ambos materiales, las palmas tipo dura presentaron los mayores grados de afección, alcanzando los valores más altos en poco más de 2 años de evaluación. Sin embargo, los cruzamientos de híbridos, que no fueron homogéneos entre ellos con respecto a la severidad, si presentaron características de tolerancia al no superar en promedio el grado 2 de severidad según la escala.

Palms planted in an area with a high bud rot disease (BR) inoculum pressure were evaluated monthly for a six-year period to determine their tolerance, resistance, or susceptibility to the disease. Dura-type E. guineensis and OxG (E. oleifera × E. guineensis) interspecific hybrids Coari × La Me were evaluated. Of the two types of genetic material evaluated, the progenies of the E. guineensis palms showed the highest levels of incidence, reaching 90% affected palms in less than two years of evaluation. Although the hybrids showed susceptibility, they had a lower degree of affectation than the dura-type palms. The severity assessment of both genetic materials showed that the dura-type palms had the highest degree of affectation, reaching the highest values after over two years of evaluation. However, the hybrids, which were not homogeneous in terms of the level of severity, did not exceed, on average, severity level 2. According to the scale, severity level 2 is indicative of tolerance to the disease.