ABSTRACT
As cosmopolitan plant-infecting pathogens or free-living saprobes, dematiaceous fungi have the capacity to take advantage of host’s temporary weakness (e.g., injury and immunosuppression), and establish infections in otherwise refractory hosts. This is evidenced by the observations that along with a growing number of immunocompromized, cancer and post-operative patients in recent decades, there has been a signi–cant increase in the incidence of unusual fungal infections. Species of Phoma and Phomopsis represent the examples of ubiquitous and plant-infective fungal organisms that have emerged as unusual pathogens in weakened human hosts, resulting in notable morbidity and mortality.
