Copyright © 1997 Michael J Adams and Elaine Ward, Plant Pathology and Microbiology Department, Rothamsted Research
Rothamsted's site collating molecular information on the Plasmodiophorales
NOTE (March 2010): We believe that the information collected here is accurate but it has not been updated for several years (and is unlikely to be updated soon) so will be incomplete
This site describes molecular information available for members of the Plasmodiophorales. This is a group of eukaryotic, intracellular parasites of fungi and higher plants that have traditionally been regarded as fungi and studied by mycologists/plant pathologists, but which may have taxonomic affinities with some protozoa (Protoctista). Some plasmodiophorids cause important plant diseases and others are significant as vectors of plant viruses. For general information on these organims we recommend Jim Braselton's Plasmodiophorid Home Page.
As obligate parasites, plasmodiophorids (a general term that does not imply any particular taxonomic rank) are difficult organisms to study and investigations of their molecular biology are in their infancy. For the present, most investigations have centred around:
- characterising isolates (e.g. by RFLP fingerprinting)
- developing sensitive and rapid methods of detection in plant roots (probes and PCR)
- investigating relationships amongst the plasmodiophorids and with other taxonomic groups
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About this page
This page is maintained by Mike Adams and Elaine Ward, Plant Pathology and Microbiology Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK. We welcome comments about this site and will be glad to make contact with others interested in this subject. We can be contacted by email at:
This page is running on the WWW Server at Rothamsted Research.
Last updated on 16 April 2003
