Plants protect themselves against a variety of invading pathogenic organisms via sophisticated defence mechanisms. These responses include deployment of specialized antimicrobial compounds, such as phytoalexins, that rapidly accumulate at pathogen infection sites. However, the extent to which these compounds contribute to species-level resistance and their spectrum of action remain poorly under...

A family of sequences resembling Gypsy retroelements was identified and shown to be widely distributed throughout the genus Phytophthora, a member of the algallike oomycete fungi. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific and degenerate primers detected the family in 29 of 37 species tested. DNA hybridization also failed to detect the sequences in the eight species that were negative in PC...

shenavar  o. & mostowfizadeh-ghalamfarsa  r. 2015. computerized interactive keys for identification of fungi. plant pathology science 4(2):41-52 accurate identification of fungi and fungus-like organisms is one of the most important steps for finding an approach to employ or control them. nevertheless, this process is usually laborious and slow. application of interactive keys is one of the way...

Phytophthora root rot of avocado, a soilborne disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands, continues to be devastating to the cultivation of avocados despite more than 70 years of research on control methods. Phytophthora root rot has been estimated to be present in two-thirds of the avocado groves in California, causing losses of almost 30% of the total value of the crop (5). P. cinnamomi m...

Phytophthora cactorum is a broad host range phytopathogenic oomycete. P. cactorum strain LV007 was isolated from a diseased European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) in Malmö, Sweden in 2016. The draft genome of P. cactorum strain LV007 is 67.81 Mb. It contains 15,567 contigs and 21,876 predicted protein-coding genes. As reported for other phytopathogenic Phytophthora species, cytoplasmic effector prote...

Evolution algebra theory is used to study non-Mendelian inheritance, particularly organelle heredity and population genetics of Phytophthora infectans. We not only can explain a puzzling feature of establishment of homoplasmy from heteroplasmic cell population and the coexistence of mitochondrial triplasmy, but also can predict all mechanisms to form the homoplasmy of cell populations, which ar...

The first natural hybrids in the genus Phytophthora were described in 1998, and they were the result of hybridization between P. nicotianae and P. cactorum. They were described formally as Phytophthora × pelgrandis in 2009. In 2007 a second type of P. cactorum hybrid species was described, generated by hybridization between P. hedraiandra and P. cactorum; it is described formally here as P. × s...

Accelerated gene evolution is a hallmark of pathogen adaptation following a host jump. Here, we describe the biochemical basis of adaptation and specialization of a plant pathogen effector after its colonization of a new host. Orthologous protease inhibitor effectors from the Irish potato famine pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, and its sister species, Phytophthora mirabilis, which is responsib...

Treena I. Burgess, Centre for Phytophthora Science and Management, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia; Janet L. Webster and Juanita A. Ciampini, Department of Environment and Conservation, Science Division, Locked Bag 104, Bentley D.C., WA 6983, Australia; Diane White and Giles E. StJ. Hardy, Centre for Phytophthora Science and Manag...