How the very small can fell the very tall: the oomycete treat

Oomycetes are probably one of the most economically and socially important taxonomic groups you have never heard of. Oomycetes can best be described as fungus or algaelike; they reproduce by spores, which means that the spread is difficult to control as spores can be carried on wind, water, equipment and people. Oomycetes are classified as protists, which are eukaryotic organisms that are not plant, fungus or animal. Included in the group is the genus Phytophthora (from Greek, meaning plant destroyer); a prominent example is Phytophthora infestans which causes the potato blight that resulted in the Irish potato famine in the 1840s and to this day causes large yield loss in agriculture and horticulture.