Studies of fungi in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) cultivated in the United States have largely focused on monitoring and controlling plant pathogens. Given increasing interest in asymptomatic fungal endophytes as potential biological control agents, surveys are needed to better characterize their diversity, distribution patterns and possible applications in integrated pest management. We s...

The synthesis of brussalexin A, the first phytoalexin containing an allyl thiolcarbamate group, and its selective inhibitory activity against fungal plant pathogens is described.

Endophytes are microbes that inhabit host plants without causing disease and are reported to be reservoirs of metabolites that combat microbes and other pathogens. Here we review diverse classes of secondary metabolites, focusing on anti-microbial compounds, synthesized by fungal endophytes including terpenoids, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, aliphatic compounds, polyketides, and peptides from th...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been studied for their role in plant development as well as in plant immunity. ROS were consistently observed to accumulate in the plant after the perception of pathogens and microbes and over the years, ROS were postulated to be an integral part of the defence response of the plant. In this article we will focus on recent findings about ROS involved in the in...

Identifying key information in transcriptomic data is very important, especially when the "omic" study deals with plant responses to stresses in field conditions where a high number of variables and disturbing factors may affect the analysis. In this meta-analysis we collected 12 transcriptomic works in Malus in order to identify which key genes, proteins, gene categories are involved in genera...

0885-5765/0 * To who berbee@inte What makes a fungus pathogenic? In this review, phylogenetic inference is used to speculate on the evolution of plant and animal pathogens in the fungal PhylumAscomycota. A phylogeny is presented using 297 18S ribosomal DNA sequences from GenBank and it is shown that most known plant pathogens are concentrated in four classes in the Ascomycota. Animal pathogens ...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi represent ubiquitous mutualists of terrestrial plants. Through the symbiosis, plant hosts, among other benefits, receive protection from pathogens. A meta-analysis was conducted on 106 articles to determine whether, following pathogen infection of AM-colonized plants, the identity of the organisms involved (pathogens, AM fungi and host plants) had implications ...

Fusarium trichothecenes are fungal toxins that cause disease on infected plants and, more importantly, health problems for humans and animals that consume infected fruits or vegetables. Unfortunately, there are few methods for controlling mycotoxin production by fungal pathogens. In this study, we isolated and characterized sixteen Fusarium strains from naturally infected potato plants in the f...

The plant cell wall has many significant structural and physiological roles, but the contributions of the various components to these roles remain unclear. Modification of cell wall properties can affect key agronomic traits such as disease resistance and plant growth. The plant cell wall is composed of diverse polysaccharides often decorated with methyl, acetyl, and feruloyl groups linked to t...

Antifungal activity of Bacillus coagulans creates the possibility to use this microorganism in biological control of fungal plant pathogens. Activity of Bacillus coagulans (No 6), isolated from lupine compost, against seven pathogenic species of indicator fungi: Bipolaris sorokiniana, Trichothecium roseum, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusatium oxysporum, Fusarium solani and Fus...