Fungal secretome consists of various functional groups of proteins, many of which participate in nutrient acquisition, self-protection, or manipulation of the environment and neighboring organisms. The least characterized component of the secretome is small secreted proteins (SSPs). Some SSPs have been reported to function as effectors, but most remain to be characterized. The composition of ma...

The Sclerotiniaceae (Ascomycotina, Leotiomycetes) is a relatively recently evolved lineage of necrotrophic host generalists, and necrotrophic or biotrophic host specialists, some latent or symptomless. We hypothesized that they inherited a basic toolbox of genes for plant symbiosis from their common ancestor. Maintenance and evolutionary diversification of symbiosis could require selection on t...

During an investigation on Cladosporium species associated with numerous substrates of various localities in Iran during 2011-13, eight species including C. delicatulum, C. echinulatum, C. exile, C. macrocarpum, C. neriicola, C. pannosum, C. scabrellum and C. uredinicola were identified based on the morphological characters. All these species are new records for the Iranian mycobiota, except fo...

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are a group of obligate biotrophs, to the extent that they must develop a close symbiotic association with the roots of a living host plant in order to grow and complete their life cycle [1]. The term “mycorrhiza” literally derives from the Greek mykes and rhiza, meaning fungus and root, respectively. AMF can symbiotically interact with almost all the plants t...

The phenolic compound salicylic acid (SA) is a key signalling molecule regulating local and systemic plant defense responses, mainly against biotrophs. Many microbial organisms, including pathogens, share the ability to degrade SA. However, the mechanism by which they perceive SA is unknown. Here we show that Ustilago maydis, the causal agent of corn smut disease, employs a so far uncharacteriz...

Plant biotrophs often establish highly specialized and localized interaction sites where sustained nutrient exchange occurs. Increased plant nuclear DNA ploidy at or adjacent to these sites has now been reported for a diverse set of interactions, including those with fungal and bacterial symbionts and parasitic fungi and nematodes. Also, novel regulators of induced endoreduplication have recent...