Pythium solare sp. nov., a new pathogen of green beans in Spain

A new disease causing wilt and death of adult plants of Phaseolus vulgaris was discovered in plastic-house crops of southeast Spain in 2004. The causal agent was shown to be a Pythium species with a unique type of oogonium ornamentation different from any of the described species. Zoospores were not observed, but globose or subglobose hyphal swellings, intercalary or terminal, were frequently found. Moreover, the ribosomal ITS region showed a unique sequence, significantly different (>14%) from any other known species of Pythium. This paper describes and illustrates the morphology of the new Pythium species and its pathogenicity to green beans. Its taxonomic position and phylogenetic relationships with other Pythium species are discussed.