title: Isolation and characterization of a novel chytrid species (phylum Blastocladiomycota), parasitic on the green alga Haematococcus.
abstract: A parasite was found in cultures of the green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis that grew epibiotically on algal cells and caused epidemics resulting in damage to the host cultures. The parasite was isolated into axenic culture on solid and liquid media. It was demonstrated to be the sole causative agent of the epidemics. According to its life cycle and phylogenetic analysis based on 18S ribosomal DNA sequences, the pathogen appears to represent a novel chytrid fungus closely related to the vascular plant pathogen Physoderma (Blastocladiomycota), although it differs from all other known chytrids by its infective stage, a wall-less propagule endowed with amoeboid motion and lacking the group's typical flagellum.
authors.affiliation: Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory, the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boker Campus 84990, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aflalo
authors.forename: Aliza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zarka
authors.forename: Jenia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gutman
authors.forename: Timothy Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Sammy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boussiba
mesh_terms: D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D008411:Chytridiomycota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S