The Role of Autophagy during Development of the Oomycete Pathogen Phytophthora infestans

Phytophthora infestans is a highly destructive plant pathogen that causes late blight disease in plants such as potato and tomato(Fry and Goodwin,1997).As a typical oomycete,the primary infective propagule of P.infestans is the sporangium,which can either germinate directly or release biflagellate zoospores that encyst and germinate on the host subsequently(Grenville-Briggs et al.,2005).Due to abundant formation of the sporangia and prolific sporulation,P.infestans can spread quickly in the host tissues and cause extensive necrosis of the infected plants(Kamoun and Smart,2005).