Plasmodiophorids: The Challenge to Understand Soil-Borne, Obligate Biotrophs with a Multiphasic Life Cycle

摘要: Plasmodiophorids are an enigmatic group of obligate biotrophic pathogens higher plants. Together with their sister phagomyxids, which infect stramenopiles, they form the monophyletic eukaryote clade phytomyxids. They have long been treated as a basal fungi, but recent molecular phylogenies point to close affiliation protozoan phylum Cercozoa. The soil-borne and plant-associated nature plasmodiophorids well multi-stage life cycle zoosporic, plasmodial, resting stages has hindered comprehensive research on this group. cannot be cultured without hosts, direct observations any stage plasmodiophorid difficult time-consuming. Molecular techniques provide valuable tools for identification monitoring organisms assess traditional approaches – such plasmodiophorids. Several different immunological or nucleic acid-based techniques, more recently genomic proteomic used investigate plasmodiophorids, style, interactions host Nonetheless, advances in knowledge about provided by mainly restricted few economically important species that cause diseases agricultural crops. Although taxa may described, available phytomyxids rather incomplete, include only selected species. A main reason bias is most specimens deposited herbaria too old, soaked fixatives otherwise unavailable DNA analyses. To fully understand protists, “rare”, under-recorded needed.