Pythium prolatum Hendrix and Campbell has been isolated from a soil sample taken in the Burgundy region in France. The fungus is easily recognisable by its heavily ornamented oogonia with conical to mammiform spines, elongated sporangia, and its diclinous antheridia forming or originating from a tangled mass of hyphae. Descriptions of the morphological and reproductive aspects of Pythium prolatum, the polymerase chain reaction of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) of the ribosomal nuclear DNA as well as the nucleotide sequences of ITS1 coding for 5.8 S rRNA are given. z

Pythium nodosum sp. nov. has been isolated from a soil sample taken in the Burgundy region in France. The fungus has spherical to variously shaped proliferating sporangia, smooth-walled oogonia which are crowded with different antheridial branches making a complicated knot around the former, and aplerotic oospores. Morphological and reproductive aspects of Pythium nodosum as well as the PCR of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) of the ribosomal nuclear DNA coupled with restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis are described here. The nucleotide sequences of ITS1 encoding 5.8S rRNA is also given. z 1998 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

The relationships between in vitro production of cell wall-degrading enzymes and aggressiveness of three Phaeosphaeria nodorum isolates were investigated. When grown in liquid medium containing 1% cell wall from wheat leaves as the carbon source, the isolates secreted xylanase, a-arabinosidase, b-xylosidase, polygalacturonase, b-galactosidase, cellulase, b-1,3-glucanase, b-glucosidase, acetyl esterase and butyrate esterase. Time-course experiments showed different levels of enzyme production and different kinetics between isolates. A highly aggressive isolate produced more xylanase, cellulase, polygalacturonase and butyrate esterase than did the two weakly aggressive isolates. Xylanase was the most active polymer-degrading enzyme produced, suggesting a key role during pathogenesis by P. nodorum.