Pathogen "Tree of Life" Assembled by Researchers.

Researchers have developed an online tool that provides real-time updates on plant diseases caused by Phytophthora species, which have caused various plant diseases, from the catastrophic Irish potato famine in the 1840s to the ongoing sudden oak death affecting West Coast oaks. The tool offers extensive information on over 192 officially recognized species, such as their evolutionary history and interrelationships within groups, and covers more than 30 informally identified taxa. The tool incorporates genetic sequence data from multiple sites within each species’ genome, as well as crucial details like the global locations of each species, their plant hosts, and the locations where the pathogens reside in or on the host plants.