DisplayTitle

​​​​​​The Genus ​Phytophthora​ – Don’t Change a Winning Concept​?

The genus Phytophthora is an ancient, historic, biologically and structurally cohesive and evolutionarily successful generic concept. Comprising more than 200 sp​ecies across at least 13 clades, it shows paraphyly with two downy mildew clades.

This virtual event is convened to assess​ the scientific support for retaining the name Phytophthora for all major clades of the genus. The workshop will explore the evolutionary, biological, taxonomic, regulatory, social and economic ramifications involved. 

Talk topics encompassed:

• ​​Overview of the Phytophthora paraphyly and cladism issue (including history of the genus)
• Proposal to split Phytophthora into multiple genera
• Update on the phylogeny of the oomycetes since 2000
• Adaptation and evolution of the Downy Mildews
• Structure and evolution of ​oomycete genomes (including trans generic effector distribution)
• Lessons from molecular clocks and coalescence analyses
• Biological cohesion across the Phytophthora clades (including lack of major discriminating synapomorphies)
• Phytophthora breeding systems
• Role of ancient reticulation and recent hybridization events in Phytophthora and other oomycetes
• Economic impact of Phytophthora pathogens (including multiple clade involvement in major disease syndromes)
• Importance of conserving the Phytophthora genus in its current form for regulation, disease management and scientific communication​
  
• Evolutionary process versus taxonomic cladism
• The Fusarium nomenclatural conflict
• Relevant ICNafp protocol and its possible role in genus preservation
  

Virtual Event Outcomes

All scientists working on the genus Phytophthora and other oomycetes are encouraged to actively participate in weighing the evidence and to vote on a recommendation aimed at reaching a community consensus.

Organizing Committee

• Tyler Bourret –​ United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA
• Clive Brasier – Emeritus Mycologist, Tree Health, Forest Research, Farnham, UK
• David E.L. Cooke –​ The James-Hutton-Institute, Cell and Molecular Sciences, Dundee, UK
• Francine Govers –​ Wageningen University and Research, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen, the Netherlands
• Nik Grünwald –​ United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, Horticultural Research Unit, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
• Thomas Jung –​ Mendel University in Brno, Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Brno, Czech Republic
• Bruno Scanu –​ University of Sassari, Department of Agriculture Sciences, Sassari, Italy​