BACKGROUND The plant pathogenic fungus (such as Gibberella zeae, Fusarium oxysporum and Cytospora mandshurica) causes devastating disease in agriculture. The pathogenic fungus is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. In order to discover new fungicidal molecule with good fungicidal activity against G. zeae, F. oxysporum, and C. mandshurica, we sought to com...

The production of trichothecene mycotoxins by some plant pathogenic species of Fusarium is thought to contribute to their virulence. Gibberella zeae (F. graminearum) is an important cereal pathogen that produces the trichothecene deoxynivalenol. To determine if trichothecene production contributes to the virulence of G. zeae, we generated trichothecene-deficient mutants of the fungus by gene di...

The genome sequence of a second plant pathogenic fungus is now available, revealing unique gene clusters encoding secretory proteins that are induced during infection and regulate pathogenesis. Gene clusters play important roles in pathogenic fungi, yet their evolution and maintenance remain a mystery.

The generic position of the enigmatic smut fungus Ustilago solida is evaluated applying molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS and LSU rDNA sequences as well as light and scanning electron microscopical investigations of several collections of this species. Ustilago solida has previously been included in five different genera (Ustilago, Urocystis, Sorosporium, Cintractia, and Tolyposporium),...

Morphological characters within the Ustilago-Sporisorium-Macalpinomyces complex are defined explicitly. The genera Sporisorium and Anthracocystis are emended to reflect morphological synapomorphies. Three new genera, Langdonia, Stollia and Triodiomyces are described based on soral synapomorphies and host classification. The new classification of the Ustilago-Sporisorium-Macalpinomyces complex i...

The genus Cercospora consists of numerous important, apparently asexual plant pathogens. We designed degenerate primers from homologous sequences in related species to amplify part of the C. apii, C. apiicola, C. beticola, C. zeae-maydis and C. zeina mating type genes. Chromosome walking was used to determine the full length mating type genes of these species. Primers were developed to amplify ...

Surveys from 1986 to 1988 identified 22 phytoparasitic nematode species in Arkansas cotton fields. Meloidogyne spp. was found in ca. 15% of the fields sampled. Of these samples ca. 33% were found to have a population density of 106/100 cm(3) of soil or more. Rotylenchulus reniformis was found in high numbers (5,000 +/100 cm(3) of soil) in 1% of the fields sampled in 1988. Heterodera glycines wa...

rhizoctonia zeae causes root rot and sheath blight on corn (zea mays) and several other gramineous plants. in order to determine the genetic diversity of the r. zeae population in mazandaran and golestan provinces, samples were collected from cultivatd soils of both provinces in 2011 and 2012.the identity of isolates as r. zeae were verified by amplification and sequencing of the 18s and 28s rd...

In limited previous studies of the Ascomycete fungus Gibberella zeae in North America, the populations examined were genetically and phenotypically diverse and could be viewed as subsamples of a larger population. Our objective in this study was to test the hypothesis that a homogeneous, randomly mating population of G. zeae is contiguous throughout the central and eastern United States across ...

Gibberella zeae, a self-fertile, haploid filamentous ascomycete, causes serious epidemics of wheat (Triticum aestivum) head blight worldwide and contaminates grain with trichothecene mycotoxins. Anecdotal evidence dating back to the late 19th century indicates that G. zeae ascospores (sexual spores) are a more important inoculum source than are macroconidia (asexual spores), although the fungus...