Phytophthora root rot is a major problem for avocado growers around the world. This review summarises the current control measures and their impact on the soil microbiome. The fungicide phosphite is widely used in the avocado industry, and reports from several countries indicate that Phytophthora cinnamomi is developing resistance. For this reason, alternative control measures have been investigated. Applying organic mulches a...

For most Western Australian plant species, no information is available on the effect of Phytophthora cinnamomi on seedling emergence, early survival, and early plant growth. Such information is required when selecting species for rehabilitating Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) forest areas affected by Phytophthora dieback. This study evaluates the response of several native species to P. cinnamomi to identify those resistant to t...

More Phytophthora species are detected from environmental samples through DNA metabarcoding than are isolated by baiting. We investigated whether bulking soil samples and baiting ~ 300 g samples in standard 1 L tubs resulted in the isolation of fewer Phytophthora and Phytophythium species compared with using 15 – 20 g samples of non-bulked soil in individual 200 ml tubs. At each of four sites with dying vegetation, 50 soil sam...

This review assesses possible reasons for the discrepancy between the high numbers of Phytophthora species and putative new species isolated from environmental samples using metabarcoding, compared with the low number cultured and identified through bating. Molecular protocols are unlikely to result in high numbers of false positives, except that variants in young hybrid species may be incorrectly identified as different speci...

Endophytes were investigated for their potential to protect Cinnamomum cassia (cinnamon) from Phytophthora root rot. From healthy cinnamon trees in diseased plantations, 134 bacterial and fungal endophytes were isolated and screened in vitro for their ability to antagonise the root rot pathogens Phytophthora cinnamomi , P. multibullata and P. × vanyenensis . Seventeen endophytes exhibiting high levels of antagonism in vitro (m...