Pythium and Phytopythium Species in Two Pennsylvania Greenhouse Irrigation Water Tanks

Two commercial greenhouses producing potted plants in Pennsylvania using recycled irrigation water in an ebb-and-flood system have incurred significant crop losses due to Pythium aphanidermatum. In cooperation with the greenhouses, one or more of their water tanks was monitored continuously (128 tank samplings) for Pythium spp. by baiting. Nine species of Pythium and three species of Phytopythium were recovered, representing clades A, B, E, and K, but none was P. aphanidermatum. The recovered Pythium spp. were (i) P. rostratifingens, (ii) isolates identical to Pythium sp. nov. OOMYA1702-08 (clade B2), (iii) P. coloratum, (iv) P. middletonii, (v) and (vi) two new species in clade E2, (vii) a new species in clade B2, (viii) isolates very similar to Pythium sp. nov. OOMYA1646-08 (clade E2), and (ix) a new species in clade A. The Phytopythium spp. recovered were (i) Phytopythium litorale, (ii) P. helicoides, and (iii) P. chamaehyphon. This article illustrates the different communities of Pythium and Phytopythium spp. found in each greenhouse over 10 months. Some of the baited species display resistance to the oomycete fungicide active ingredient, mefenoxam. P. helicoides and the new species in clade B2 were pathogenic on seedlings in potting mix with fertilizer added.