Tessa Kothlow

Plant pathogens such as Phytophthora spp. have consistently proven to cause economic devastation by destroying natural biota. This is exemplified by the historic devastation of the Irish potato famine, where late blight of potato was caused by the pathogen Phytophthora infestans. This pathogen continues to result in an economic loss of $3-5 billion annually. Another pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, threatens the $30 billion timber industry with sudden oak death. Present day root rot from soil-born Phytophthora spp. directly impacts the multimillion-dollar nursery industry due to the loss of woody plants. Identifying these Phytophthora species in Minnesota nurseries discloses the nexus of disease prevention.Implementing a molecular based biosurveillance system provides for an early detection system for pathogens, such as sudden oak death, as they first become established. This research focuses on mitigating the loss of Phytophthora susceptible hosts by identifying and reporting pathogens present in local vulnerable woody plant nurseries and waterways in the Twin Cities’ metropolitan area. In order to describe the physical and hypothetical dimension of the spread and destruction of invasive Phytophthora pathogens, we implemented a genomic level of biosurveillance of these environments. Through phylogenetic analysis of Phytophthora obtained from our samples, five species were identified: P. gonapodyideas, P. parsiana, P. hydropathica, P. irrigata, and P. gregata. Of which, P. irrigata, and P. gregata are newly reported species in Minnesota.