Molecular Identification of Fungi - ReadingSample

As the pace of biotic homogenization has accelerated over time, the threat of novel phytopathogens has become a question of growing importance for mycologists and plant pathologists. Meanwhile, this question is but one of a whole set of related questions that invasion biologists are attempting to answer. Pathogen release is of interest to both sets of scientists because it provides a measure of the extent to which previously isolated mycobiotas have undergone cryptic homogenization, and at the same time it is the basis for a promising hypothesis to explain plant invasions. We argue that only a fraction of all first encounters between novel pathogens and evolutionarily naive plants could result in susceptible outcomes. This is analogous to the fact that only a fraction of all plant introductions result in plant invasions.