DsEcp2-1 is a polymorphic effector that restricts growth of Dothistroma septosporum in pine.

The detrimental effect of fungal pathogens on forest trees is an increasingly important problem that has implications for the health of our planet. Despite this, the study of molecular plant-microbe interactions in forest trees is in its infancy, and very little is known about the roles of effector molecules from forest pathogens. Dothistroma septosporum causes a devastating needle blight disease of pines, and intriguingly, is closely related to Cladosporium fulvum, a tomato pathogen in which pioneering effector biology studies have been carried out.

Genome-wide gene expression dynamics of the fungal pathogen Dothistroma septosporum throughout its infection cycle of the gymnosperm host Pinus radiata.

We present genome-wide gene expression patterns as a time series through the infection cycle of the fungal pine needle blight pathogen, Dothistroma septosporum, as it invades its gymnosperm host, Pinus radiata. We determined the molecular changes at three stages of the disease cycle: epiphytic/biotrophic (early), initial necrosis (mid) and mature sporulating lesion (late). Over 1.

A genetically homogenous population of Fusarium circinatum causes pitch canker of Pinus radiata in the Basque Country, Spain.

Pitch canker, caused by Fusarium circinatum, is a destructive disease of Pinus species and has recently been shown to represent a substantial threat to natural and commercial forests in northern Spain. The genetic diversity of F. circinatum in the Basque Country of Spain was assessed by characterising 96 isolates based on vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs), mating type assays, polymorphic DNA-markers and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses.

Fungal endophytes in seeds and needles of Pinus monticola.

Using a sequence-based approach, we investigated the transmission of diverse fungal endophytes in seed and needles of Pinus monticola, western white pine. We isolated 2003 fungal endophytes from 750 surface-sterilized needles. In contrast, only 16 endophytic isolates were obtained from 800 surface-sterilized seeds.

A community of unknown, endophytic fungi in western white pine.

The endophytic fungi of woody plants may be diverse as often claimed, and likewise, they may be functionally novel as demonstrated in a few studies. However, the endophyte taxa that are most frequently reported tend to belong to fungal groups composed of morphologically similar endophytes and parasites. Thus, it is plausible that endophytes are known (i.

Dothistroma pini, a forest pathogen, contains homologs of aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway genes.

Homologs of aflatoxin biosynthetic genes have been identified in the pine needle pathogen Dothistroma pini. D. pini produces dothistromin, a difuranoanthraquinone toxin with structural similarity to the aflatoxin precursor versicolorin B.