ABSTRACT
On the basis of morphological [5] and molecular [6] data, the causal agent of rapid blight is Labyrinthula terrestris, a eukaryotic protist species recently described in the genus Labyrinthula.
First described in 1867 [7], Labyrinthula have been classifi ed in a variety of ways over the past 139 years, as plants, fungi, slime molds, and even amoebae [8,9,10]. Currently, morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular data place the genus in the kingdom Stramenopila (Chromista) together with organisms such as diatoms, brown algae, and the water molds or Oomycetes [10]. There are major questions of taxonomic criteria with the Labyrinthula, however, and the classifi cation of these organisms undoubtedly will be revised on the basis of continued morphological and molecular studies.
