Protists include all eukaryotes except plants, fungi and animals. They are an essential, yet
often forgotten, component of the soil microbiome. Method developments have now …

Bacteria influence eukaryotic biology as parasitic, commensal or beneficial symbionts. Aside
from these organismal interactions, bacteria have also been important sources of new …

Unlike most other fungi, molds of the genus Trichoderma (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) are
aggressive parasites of other fungi and efficient decomposers of plant biomass. Although …

The infamous oomycete Phytophthora infestans has been a persistent threat to potato and
tomato production worldwide, causing the diseases known as late blight. This pathogen has …

The wide spread of gene exchange and loss in the prokaryotic world has prompted the
concept of 'lateral genomics' to the point of an outright denial of the relevance of …

A fundamental tenet of multicellular eukaryotic evolution is that vertical inheritance is
paramount, with natural selection acting on genetic variants transferred from parents to …

Unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs), whose sequences can be found in the genomes of
thousands of filamentous fungi, many yeasts and certain fungus-like protists, are fascinating …

Highlights•Plant pathogens produce effectors to interfere with host defences and
metabolism.•Effector genes are among the most rapidly evolving genes in pathogen …

This article is part of the Top 10 Unanswered Questions in MPMI invited review series. The
past few decades have seen major discoveries in the field of molecular plant-microbe …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or lateral gene transfer, is the non-sexual movement of
genetic information between genomes. It has played a pronounced part in bacterial and …