FEMS Microbiology Letters (2008) 288, 163-170

Gürsel Karaca, Güliz Tepedelen, Afef Belghouthi and Bernard Paul (2008)
A new mycoparasite, Pythium lycopersicum, isolated in Isparta, Turkey: morphology, molecular characteristics, and its antagonism with phytopathogenic fungi
FEMS Microbiology Letters 288 (2), 163-170
Abstract: Pythium lycopersicum sp. nov. has been isolated from soil samples taken in an agricultural land in the Isparta region of Southern Turkey. This oomycete is characterized by its contiguous sporangia having globose to elongated elements linked with hyphal filaments, ornamented oogonia, and monoclinous antheridia with large antheridial cells. The oomycete is reminiscent of Pythium ornamentatum described by the corresponding author in 1987 from soil samples taken in Algeria. Sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rRNA show a close relationship with Pythium oligandrum and other mycoparasites possessing ornamented oogonia. Morphological and molecular features of this isolate justify its description as a new species: P. lycopersicum. When grown together with Botrytis cinerea, this oomycete shows a pronounced antagonism and suppresses the phytopathogen. The morphological details, together with the analysis of the ITS region of its rRNA, and its antagonism with some phytopathogens are discussed in this article.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Bernard Paul, Gursel Karaca

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
identification/taxonomy
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Botrytis cinerea		Turkey
Pythium lycopersicum (antagonist)	Botrytis cinerea		Turkey