Anne P. Rehmany

TL;DR: The oomycete Phytophthora infestans causes late blight, the potato disease that precipitated the Irish famines in 1846 and 1847, and it is suggested that Avr3a has undergone gene duplication and that an allele evading recognition by R3a arose under positive selection.

TL;DR: Evidence of diversifying selection visible in both components suggests that the host and pathogen may be locked in a coevolutionary conflict at these loci, where attempts to evade host resistance by the pathogen are matched by the development of new detection capabilities by the host.

TL;DR: The cloning of ATR1NdWsB has highlighted the presence of a highly conserved novel amino acid motif in avirulence proteins from three different oomycetes and its similarity to a host-targeting signal from malaria parasites suggest a conserved role in pathogenicity.

TL;DR: The genome sequence of the oomycete Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis is reported, an obligate biotroph and natural pathogen of Arabidopsis thaliana, which exhibits dramatic reductions in genes encoding RXLR effectors, proteins associated with zoospore formation and motility, and enzymes for assimilation of inorganic nitrogen and sulfur.

TL;DR: AVR proteins from Hyaloperonospora parasitica and Phytophthora infestans are detected in the plant host cytoplasm, consistent with the hypothesis that oomycetes, as is the case with bacteria and fungi, actively deliver effectors inside host cells.