Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a fungus recognised as one of the causes of global amphibian population declines. To assess its occurrence, we conducted PCR diagnostic assays of 147 swab samples, from 13 species of frogs from Mount Gede Pangrango National Park, Indonesia. Four swab samples, from Rhacophorus javanus, Rana chalconota, Leptobrachium hasseltii and Limnonectes microdiscus, we...

Enigmatic amphibian declines were first reported in southern and southeastern Brazil in the late 1980s and included several species of stream-dwelling anurans (families Hylodidae and Cycloramphidae). At that time, we were unaware of the amphibian-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd); therefore, pollution, habitat loss, fragmentation and unusual climatic events were hypothesized as...

This is the first report to present a full-length cDNA (designated HbPR-1) encoding a putative basic HbPR-1 protein from rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) treated with salicylic acid. It was characterized and also expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana using Agrobacterium-mediated transient gene expression system in order to investigate the role of HbPR-1 gene in rubber tree against its oomycete pat...

Although Rhododendron is the most important host of Phytophthora ramorum in Europe, there is little scientific information about the susceptibility levels of different Rhododendron species and cultivars. Increasing this knowledge would help nurseries in the management of the disease and could be used by plant protection services to target their inspections. In this study a total of 80 Rhododend...

The ribosomal gene complex is a multi-copy region that is widely used for phylogenetic analyses of organisms from all 3 domains of life. In fungi, the copy number of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is used to detect abundance of pathogens causing diseases such as chytridiomycosis in amphibians and white nose syndrome in bats. Chytridiomycosis is caused by the fungi Batrachochytrium dendro...

In an effort to investigate the molecular mechanisms responsible for the drastic morphological changes the mitochondria go through during the life cycle of the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii, the gene encoding the a subunit of the mitochondrial processing peptidase (a-MPP) was isolated. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the predicted a-MPP polypeptide comprises 474 amino acid...

Phytophthoramegakarya (Pmeg)andPhytophthorapalmivora (Ppal) are closely relatedspecies causingcacaoblackpod rot.Although Ppal is a cosmopolitan pathogen, cacao is the only known host of economic importance for Pmeg. Pmeg is more virulent on cacao than Ppal. We sequenced and compared the Pmeg and Ppal genomes and identified virulence-related putative gene models (PGeneM) that may be responsible ...

The Chytridiales, one of the four orders in the Chytridiomycetes (Chytridiomycota), is polyphyletic, but contains several well-supported clades. One of these clades is referred to as the Chytriomyces angularis clade, and the phylogenetic placement of this group within the Chytridiomycetes is uncertain. The morphology and zoospore ultrastructure of C. angularis have been studied using LM and wer...

Pathogens do not normally drive their hosts to extinction; however, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which causes amphibian chytridiomycosis, has been able to do so. Theory predicts that extinction can be caused by long-lived or saprobic free-living stages. The hypothesis that such a stage occurs in B. dendrobatidis is supported by the recent discovery of an apparently encysted form of the patho...

The interaction of isovaleraldehyde, an attractant, with zoospores of the fungus Phytophthora palmivora was investigated by using binding techniques. The amount of isovaleraldehyde bound diminished with time, an effect that may be related to sensory adaptation. In addition to non-specific binding, specific and saturable isovaleraldehyde binding was demonstrated. Cooperativity occurred at interm...