Phytophthora has been rebuilt to fix security-related problems and to restore GIS tools. These tools allow users to visualize the geospatial, temporal, and environmental contexts of Phytophthora discoveries. The next phase is to update species information and add data derived from large-scale surveys. If you have suggestions and requests to make the database better, please contact Seogchan Kang (sxk55@psu.edu).
Genus wide phylogeny for Phytophthora using four mitochondrial loci (cox2, nad9, rps10 and secY; 2,373 nucleotides). Maximum likelihood branch lengths shown. Numbers on nodes represent bootstrap support values for maximum likelihood (top), maximum parsimony (middle) and Bayesian posterior probabilities as percentages (bottom). Nodes receiving significant support (>95%) in all analysis are marked with an asterisk (*). Scale bar indicates number of substitutions per site.(Martin, Blair and Coffey, unpublished).
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Phytophthora pinifolia A. Durán, Gryzenh. & M.J. Wingf. was originally isolated from infected Pinus radiata needles in Chile, where it was causing a serious needle and shoot disease. It is a clade 8 species that is basal to P. megasperma and P. gonapodyides.
1. Sporangia
Sporangiophores 28–44 μm long (avg. 36 μm), simple. Sporangia produced abundantly in soil extract water and rare in culture; in soil extract water mostly occurring within agar plugs. Sporangia were borne on predominantly unbranched sporangiophores, terminal, semi-globose to ovoid, nonpapillate, 39–61 × 27–45 μm (avg. 48 × 35 μm), occasionally germinating directly with apical elongation or releasing zoospores directly, exit pore 15 μm wide, occasionally free with pedicels 14–32 μm (avg. 23 μm) long.
2. Chlamydospores
3. Sex Organs
Despite regular observation of plates, including those where isolates of the Phytophthora sp. were paired with each other in all possible combinations, sexual structures of the oomycete where not observed.
4. Growth Temperatures
Optimal temperature for growth 25°C (min 10°C; max 30°C), plates never completely covered but reaching maximum diameter (45–55 mm) on CA in 4 weeks.
5. Growth Characteristics in Culture
Colonies on CA and V8 white with fluffy aerial mycelium, with a regular border or a rosaceous to petallate pattern, appressed or submerged in the medium, On CMA-NARP, mycelium submerged with a very irregular border. Hyphae coralloid with unusual single spherical swellings, sometimes with radiating hyphae, swellings 4–8 μm diam.
6. Distinguishing Characteristics
Phytophthora pinifolia is a clade 8 species, other species in this group include P. gonapodyides, P. megasperma, P. humicola and P. inundata. These species are all ecologically and morphologically different despite their phylogenetic affinity. For example, they are all soil fungi whereas P. pinifolia has an aerial habit, with occasionally caducous sporangia that do not proliferate internally or externally unlike those found in P. gonapodyides, P. megasperma, P. inundata and P. humicola.
The habitat of P. pinifolia is unusual in that it is the only species of this genus known to infect green shoots and needles of a Pinus sp.
Durán, A., Gryzenhout, M., Slippers, B., Ahumada, R., Rotella, A., Flores, F., Wingfield, B. D. and Wingfield, M. J. 2008. Phytophthora pinifolia sp. nov. associated with a serious needle disease of Pinus radiata in Chile. Plant Pathology 57:715–727
This species page was adapted from Durán et al. (2008)
Isolate list