The fungus Cochliobolus miyabeanus causes severe leaf spot disease on rice (Oryza sativa) and two North American specialty crops, American wildrice (Zizania palustris) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Despite the importance of C. miyabeanus as a disease-causing agent in wildrice, little is known about either the mechanisms of pathogenicity or host defense responses. To start bridging these g...

The fastidious phytopathogenic bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, poses a substantial threat to many economically important crops, causing devastating diseases including Pierce's Disease of grapevine. Grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) planted in an area under Pierce's Disease pressure often display differences in disease severity and symptom expression, with apparently healthy vines growing alongside ...

NPS6, encoding a nonribosomal peptide synthetase, is a virulence determinant in the maize (Zea mays) pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus and is involved in tolerance to H(2)O(2). Deletion of NPS6 orthologs in the rice (Oryza sativa) pathogen, Cochliobolus miyabeanus, the wheat (Triticum aestivum) pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, and the Arabidopsis thaliana pathogen, Alternaria brassicicola, re...

Fungal pathogens perceive and respond to molecules from the plant, triggering pathogenic development. Transduction of these signals may use heterotrimeric G proteins, and it is thought that protein phosphorylation cascades are also important. We have isolated a mitogen-activated protein kinase homolog from the corn pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus to test its role as a component of the tran...