Oomycetes are a diverse group of organisms with worldwide distribution. The phylum contains a large number of pathogenic species which cause immense damage to both animal and plant host species in cultured, managed and wild ecosystems. As such, the majority of research is focused on host-pathogen interactions and the environmental study of oomycetes is greatly neglected. However, due to their devastating economic and ecological effects it is becoming increasingly clear that oomycete ecology and diversity studies are vital to the monitoring and management of diseases caused by oomycete species. By studying oomycete diversity, we further expand our knowledge of species ecological adaptation, distribution and host ranges, allowing for development of improved biosecurity systems. The diversity of oomycete species within the biogeographically important Falkland Island archipelago was assessed. The Islands contained relatively low oomycete species diversity, with a total of twenty-five species identified, in nine genera; Pythium s. str., Phytopythium, Saprolegnia, Leptolegnia, Newbya, Achlya, Elongisporangium, Globisporangium and Phytophthora. Thirteen of the identified species from the Falkland Islands were putative novel species, within the genera; Saprolegnia, Leptolegnia, Newbya, Pythium s. str., Phytopythium and Elongisporangium. Four of these putative novel species were confirmed as novel taxa through the morphological and molecular analyses presented herein. A fifth species requires further analyses to confirm the taxonomic position. One of the presented species was mildly pathogenic towards Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) eggs, while another was pathogenic towards ryegrass (Lolium sp.) seedlings. These results expand our knowledge of oomycete taxonomy and provide further knowledge of pathogenic oomycete species.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:707503 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Davis, Katie Sarah |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=231638 |
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