ABSTRACT
The oomycetes are a highly diverse group of heterotrophic fungal-like eukaryotes that are placed within the Straminipila, in the supergroup SAR, together with the Alveolata and Rhizaria (Adl et al. 2012). Oomycetes have acquired genes from distantly related lineages of microorganisms which have signi›cantly impacted on the evolution of their genomes, their diversi›cation and pathogenicity. Many morphological and physiological traits in oomycetes and true fungi have evolved convergently, such as mycelial habit, absorptive heterotrophy, and mechanisms of infection, mostly due to horizontal gene transfer (Richards et al. 2006; Meng et al. 2009). Most members of this group produce heterokont bi©agellate zoospores and can be found in a wide range of ecosystems as saprotrophs and parasites of a variety of host organisms such as algae, oomycetes, fungi, plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates (Arcate et al. 2006; Beakes and Sekimoto 2009; Marano et al. 2014).
