Sequences reveal benign origin of deadly plant pathogens

Abstract

An international team of researchers, which includes scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, has published the draft genome sequences of two deadly plant pathogens, Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora sojae. Phytophthora sojae causes severe damage in soybean crops and results in $1-2 million in annual losses for commercial farmers in the United States.