PLOS Genetics: Hooked and Cooked: A Fish Killer Genome Exposed

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Few microorganisms match the impact that the oomycetes have had on mankind. This distinct lineage of eukaryotes is well-known for its most notorious member, Phytophthora infestans, the agent of the nineteenth century Irish potato famine, and several other devastating pathogens of cultivated and wild plants [1]. Indeed, more than 60% of oomycete species infect plants [2]. Less known is the fact that many oomycetes are parasitic on animals, from freshwater fish and crustaceans to mammals, such as livestock, pets, and humans [3]. Animal parasitic oomycetes have received much less attention than their plant pathogenic kin, and our understanding of their virulence mechanisms is rudimentary. However, research momentum is poised to accelerate with the first report of the genome of an animal parasitic oomycete. In this issue of PLOS Genetics, Jiang et al. [4] describe the 63 Mbp genome sequence of the fish pathogen Saprolegnia parasitica and highlight a distinct repertoire of candidate virulence genes.

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