Managers of forest and plantation ecosystems are encountering growing problems involving plant pathogens and the expanding geographic ranges of these pathogens. Historically unexposed stands are exceptionally vulnerable when a non-native pathogen is introduced because these pathogens can cause devastating disease in a host population that lacks co-evolved resistance mechanisms. One...
Potato Virus Y (PVY) is an enduring problem for potato production worldwide. Potato varieties that resist the “ordinary” strain PVYO were developed by breeders, but in recent years, recombinant strains of PVY have been able to circumvent this strain-specific resistance and evade growers and seed certification officials by causing fewer...
Plant pathogens in the genus Phytophthora are known to cause disease on field crops, nursery plants, and forest trees. The best known example probably is Phytophthora infestans, which triggered the infamous Irish potato famine. Other important Phytophthora species include: P. ramorum (sudden oak death pathogen), P. sojae (soybean root rot...
Modern plant pathology benefits from integrating methods and concepts from evolutionary biology. For example, evolutionary concepts are used to identify and examine species boundaries of plant pathogens, recognize processes underlying pathogen biogeography, identify traits that characterize emerging species, and discover new molecular interactions that originate under processes of selection. In...
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the major crops produced in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, a region known for its wheat production for international export. Wheat production in the region is threatened by diseases such as Cephalosporium stripe and stripe rust. Cephalosporium stripe is a vascular wilt disease of...
In eukaryotes, the defined loci on each chromosome, the centromeres, accomplish
the critical task of correct cell division. In some organisms, centromeres are
composed of a euchromatic central core region embedded in a stretch of
heterochromatin and the inheritance and maintenance of centromeres are controlled
by dynamic epigenetic phenomena. Although...
Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr) is the necrotrophic fungus responsible for tan spot of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Ptr causes disease on susceptible wheat cultivars through the production and secretion of host-selective toxins (HSTs). HSTs are compounds that are only known to be produced by fungi and considered to be primary determinants of...
Symbioses between microbes and multicellular eukaryotes are found in all biomes, and encompass a spectrum of symbiotic lifestyles that includes parasitism and disease, commensalism, and mutually beneficial interdependent host-microbe relationships. Regardless of outcome, these symbiotic lifestyles are governed by a complex molecular "courtship" between microbe and potential host. This courtship...
Jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica Host; 2n=4x=28; CCDD) is an
agriculturally important species both as a weed and as a genetic resource for
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; 2n=6x=42; AABBDD) improvement. In order to
better understand the evolution of this species, the diversity of Ae. cylindrica
was evaluated along with its progenitors,...