Monica Elliott of the U Florida explains a simple technique for teasing fungi such as Phytophthora out of diseased tissue. Oops! Did you spot the deliberate mistake? Phytophthora is no longer a fungus. It is now officially fungus-like. Great news when you're teaching agronomists what types of organisms cause disease. "We've just added a new group of pathogens."So when is a fungus not a fungus? When it's fungus-like.
I urge taxonomists to go further. I'd like to encourage the introduction of bacterium-like, virus-like and nematode-like. Even phytoplasma-like. We did have mycoplasma-like organisms at one time, so there is a precedent. Let's not stop with pathogens (and pathogen-like organisms) and have diseases that are blight-like, wilt-like and rot-like.
But there is a serious question here: how do you describe the symptoms shown above on chilli in Georgia. The plants are clearly diseased, with yellowing, decline and hints of a wilt. If I knew more about chillies I might have a better idea of what's happening. Could be anything, but it more closely resembles a virus. Let me know, like, if you can help.




