Modern Growing Methods May Be Culprit of 'Coffee Rust' Fungal Outbreak

According to a study done by an ecologist from the University of Michigan, there is a current outbreak of "coffee rust" fungus damaging coffee production in Mexico and Central America. Coffee rust, which is a fungal disease, infects the leaves, young fruit, and buds of coffee plants, and its spores are spread by the wind and rain to infect other plants. The current outbreak of this fungus is blamed on the new growing method, which removes the thick canopy of trees over the coffee plants to increase production, but makes the plants more susceptible to pests. Coffee rust, since it infects leaves, prevents the coffee plants from being able to photosynthesize. As a result, 10% of the plants have died and over 30% have no leaves. Because of this fungal disease, the cost of a coffee may increase significantly in the next few years. 

This article is relevant to the biology curriculum since it is about coffee rust, which is a fungal infection, and we have been learning about parasitic fungi. Also, it shows how the fungus reproduces through spores, and we have learned about fungi reproduction strategies of using spore producing structures. Lastly, this article relates to biology because we have learned about the structure of a plant and how photosynthesis is usually performed in leaves, which relates to the article since the coffee plant is not able to photosynthesize after its leaves are infected with the fungus.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130212111731.htm