The presence of apothecia in mixed species (vegetatively reproducing lichens, occasionally producing ascomata) has been interpreted as a mechanism to increase genetic variability in mostly clonal populations. However, spore viability from these apothecia has not been studied. We asked whether ascospores of the mixed species Physconia grisea are viable and thereby contribute to increasing the ge...

The phytopathogenic fungus Magnaporthe grisea elaborates a specialized infection cell called an appressorium with which it mechanically ruptures the plant cuticle. To generate mechanical force, appressoria produce enormous hydrostatic turgor by accumulating molar concentrations of glycerol. To investigate the genetic control of cellular turgor, we analyzed the response of M. grisea to hyperosmo...

The Pyricularia genus includes several pathogenic fungi species that are associated with blast disease in more than 50 Poaceae plants (Ou 1985). Among these species, Pyricularia oryzae is the most important pathogen, due to its global distribution on plants from the Poaceae family. The blast disease caused by P. oryzae is responsible for severe losses in crops of high economic importance such a...

We have identified genes for pathogenicity toward rice (Oryza sativa) and genes for virulence toward specific rice cultivars in the plant pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe grisea. A genetic cross was conducted between the weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) pathogen 4091-5-8, a highly fertile, hermaphroditic laboratory strain, and the rice pathogen 0-135, a poorly fertile, female-sterile field i...