Diversity and pathogenicity of species associated with the invasive plant and local plants.

Pathogen accumulation after introduction is unavoidable for exotic plants over a long period of time. Therefore, it is important to understand whether plant invasion promotes novel pathogen emergence and increases the risk of pathogen movement among agricultural, horticultural, and wild native plants. In this study, we used multiple gene analysis to characterize the species composition of 104 isolates of obtained from the invasive plant and native plants from Yunnan, Hubei, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guangxi in China. Phylogenetically, these strains were from (88.5%), (10.6%) and (0.9%). There was a high amount of sharing between strains associated with and with local plants. Pathogenicity tests indicated that most of these strains are generalists; the isolates with a wider host range were more virulent to the plant. Woody plants were more resistant to these strains than herbaceous plants and vines. However, the invasive plant was highly sensitive to these strains. Our data are valuable for understanding how invasion impacts the species composition of the native plant and whether invasion causes potential disease risks in invaded ecosystems.