Olpidium: a new turf disease?

Olpidium is a genus of plant pathogens that are obligate parasites (they cannot survive and reproduce outside of their plant host) that fall into the phylum Chytridiomycota. They have not been cultured in artificial media and therefore these fungus–like organisms are difficult to work with under laboratory conditions.

Fungi in the genus Olpidium are most well known for their ability to transmit virus diseases such as big vein virus in lettuce. Almost nothing is known about these pathogens on turfgrasses,…