Several species of Phytophthora can survive and sporulate in saline environments, but it is not known whether P. ramorum is able to tolerate such conditions. Students from University of Washington, Tacoma, examined the effects of seawater on P. ramorum mycelial growth and sporulation as independent study projects for Dr. Erica Cline’s Environmental Microbiology class (TESC 378).
Mycelial growth was partially inhibited with increasing salinity. Chlamydospore production on rhododendron leaf discs tended to increase, especially in the NA2 lineage.
A study of the effects of salinity on Phytophthora ramorum mycelium growth by Lucy Rollins and Rebecca Singer
Phytophthora ramorum sporulation in varying salinities by Katherine Patterson and Portia Leigh