Phylum Oomycota

Kingdom Protista
What is Oomycota?
Phylum Oomycota - General Information
● Filamentous protists physically resembling fungi
commonly called “Water Molds”
● Habitat: Moist, cool areas such as damp soil, marine and
freshwater habitats (worldwide)
● Feeding: Heterotrophic by absorption of water (either
saphropytic or parasitic)
● Morphology: Filamentous
● Cell wall composition: Cellulose
● Life cycle: Diplontic
● Movement: Self-propelled spores
● Some species are parasitic and negatively affect aquatic
Figure 1. Sporangia (Top). Sporangium
plants or organisms. with short pedicel (Bottom).
Phylum Oomycota - Relation with Fungi

Despite the name and their superficial appearance, oomycetes are not fungi.

Morphological and physiological similarities include:

● Filamentous growth in their vegetative stage, produce mycelia and form spores for asexual and sexual
reproduction, heterotrophs, no chlorophyll pigments

Morphological and physiological differences include:

● Fungi are haploid or dikaryotic during the major part of their lifecycle, whereas Oomycetes are diploid. Fungal
hyphae are septate, whereas Oomycete hyphae are non-septate. Cell wall of Oomycetes is cellulose while Fungi
has chitin.

Oomycetes are more closely related to algae and to green plants instead being considered as True Fungi
Phylum Oomycota - Relation with Fungi

Figure 2. Comparison Chart of Major Differences

between Oomycetes and True Fungi
Oomycota - Life Cycle
Sporangia

Asexual Cycle Zoospores (Primary & Secondary)

Germinated Cyst

Oosporangium

Antheridium
Sexual Cycle
Oospore

Germinated Figure 3. Life Cycle of Saprolegnia. A-H is the

Oospore asexual cycle and I-O is the sexual cycle.
Representative Orders
Phylum Oomycota - Taxonomic Hierarchy
Class Oomycetes

Subclass: Saprolegniomycetidae Subclass: Peronosporomycetida

Order: Saprolegniales Order: Peronosporales

Family: Pythiaceae

Family: Peronosporaceae

Family: Albuginaceae
Order: Saprolegniales (Subclass: Saprolegniomycetidae)
Representative species: Aphanomyces invadans

● 2 typical zoospore forms

● Loss of appetite, dark body colour, mass mortality
● Lesions on the body showing as red spots, black burn-like
marks or deeper ulcers with red centres and white rims
● Saprolegniasis

Spores commonly enter the fish body via damaged gills. In

Salmonids, saprolegniasis is associated with stress. Saprolegnia
species can also infect fish eggs, swimming from dead to live eggs
via positive chemotaxis.

Epizootic ulcerative syndrome, which can cause mass mortality, is Figure 6. Fishes infected with Aphanomyces
invadans. Aphanomyces invadans motile
attributed to Aphanomyces invadans.
zoospores (Bottom).
Order Peronosporales (Subclass: Peronosporomycetida)

There are 3 well-defined families plant pathogens of Peronosporales: Pythiaceae, Peronosporaceae,

Albuginaceae.

General Characteristics of Order Peronosporales

● Wide range of habitat from aquatic, through amphibious way of life to the land habitat
● Terrestrial species are highly specialized obligate plant parasites
● Many peronosporales are parasites and some are saprophytes
● The sporangia in the Peronosporales usually get detached and generally function as conidia.
● Order is represented by 12 genera and about 325 species
Pythiaceae (Order Peronosporales)

The family Pythiaceae contains obligate and nonobligate parasites, and

includes the important pathogen genera Pythium and Phytophthora.

Pythium species

● Root rots of numerous plant species

Phytophthora species

● Cause late blight of potato and tomato, foliar blights on peppers and
cucurbits, and root or stem rots of many plant species.

Figure 7. A root rot caused by a Pythium species (Top).

Tomato blight by Phytophthora species (Bottom).
Pythiaceae (Order Peronosporales)

Phytophthora representative species:

Phytophthora infestans (agent of late blight of potato) caused Irish famine

in Ireland during 1845-1849, resulted in the death of about 1 million Irish
people, emigration up to 1.5 million people to North America.

● Obligate parasite
● Transmission is by air and water
● Can infect and reproduce spores upon contact with the host >5 days
● Attacks the root and stem
● Relatively immune to spraying
● Still a serious problem in many farmers around the world

Figure 8. Potato blight (Top). Sudden oak death (Bottom).

Peronosporaceae (Order Peronosporales)
Representative species:

Plasmopara viticola which threatened the French wine industry towards

the end of 19th century.

● Obligate parasite
● Controlled by Bordeaux mixture
● Seen as thick white patches on the underlying side of a grape
leaf
● Leaf discoloration, necrosis and defoliation
● Responsible for downy mildew in grapevines
● Infestation reduces wine grape yield by contributing to berry
drop as well as berry rot.
Figure 9. Downy mildew in a grape leaf (Top). Infected
unripe grapes (Bottom).
Albuginaceae (Order Peronosporales)
Representative species: Albugo candida

● An obligate parasite that produces a generally mild disease

called white rust (not a true rust)
● Seen on the stems, leaves, and fruit of cruciferous plants
such as radish, horseradish, and several weed species.
● Reduce vegetable crop yields
● Flower buds may be infected in one of two ways, by infested
seeds where the pathogen develops systemically or by
infection by sporangia from other plants.
● Precautionary measure is keeping the leaves dry
● Oospore contaminated seeds and zoospore infected flower
Figure 10. Albugo candida infestation on a cruciferous
buds
plant.
Oomycota - Ecological Relevance

● Many oomycetes are crucial decomposers that Figure 4. Decomposition of potato by Phytophthora
infestans.
breakdown and recycle decaying materials in
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, but some of the
most destructive plant pathogens are those in the
genus Phytophthora, particularly the Phytophthora
infestans, which has the power to change the
course of history because it has dangerously
affected the lives of farmers and consumers,
bringing death and economic loss.

Figure 5. Water mold growing on a dead mayfly

larva
References
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