Diseases are threatening forests worldwide. In North America, white pine blister rust (WPBR) is one of the most damaging tree epidemics. To understand patterns in the current and future risk for high-elevation five-needle white pine species (High-5), we compiled data from independent studies across the western U.S. to estimate WPBR risk. Contrary to previous predictions, the future climate is not expected to reduce the prevalence of WPBR risk on High-5 species in the western U.S. The prevalence of WPBR is predicted to increase, with most distributions of the High-5 species projected to experience elevated WPBR prevalence over the next century. Temperature and moisture conditions ensure that while some newly invaded areas are projected to experience regular periods of elevated risk, others can expect intermittent episodes of high risk. Restoration in impacted areas and proactive management in regions at increased risk are warranted to ensure High-5 population sustainability and ecosystem function.

Cytospora canker, primarily caused by Cytospora plurivora D.P. Lawr. L.A. Holland & Trouillas is one of the most destructive diseases of peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch), a crop with significant economic and cultural importance in Colorado. Canker pathogens including Cytospora spp. are a major driver of reduced productivity and longevity of orchards worldwide, yet management options are limited. Fungicides can be used to protect pruning wounds from infection but have primarily been tested as hand sprays which are labor intensive and therefore expensive. Air blast sprayers are currently used by growers to manage other diseases and pests and for nutrient applications; however, their efficacy on canker pathogens is not well understood. Additionally, methods for application on woody tissue may differ from foliar sprays. This study evaluated the efficacy of canopy spray applications of captan and lime sulfur in preventing infections on scaffold branches and examined the effects of application timing and axial fan use on spray coverage and uniformity. In spring trials, 3% lime sulfur significantly reduced lesion size by 58% on middle branches and 87% on upper branches, whereas captan (3.5 liters per hectare) showed mixed results. The rate of application may have been insufficient. Minimal lesion development occurred in fall trials, and neither treatment was significantly different from untreated controls. Discrepancies in efficacy across heights were linked to uneven distribution of spray coverage. In coverage trials, spray coverage, as measured by water sensitive paper cards, varied significantly by season, height, and orchard. Greater coverage was achieved on bare trees in spring compared to foliated trees in summer. Axial fan use improved coverage in some cases but decreased it in others. The results from this study will help inform future trials and aid peach growers in developing management programs for Cytospora canker.

Airborne dispersion of microorganisms is a constant ecologically significant global process. However, the initial stage of this process, the uplift of microbes to the atmosphere, remains poorly understood as an ecological filter. Differential aerosolization could serve as a potent selector allowing a subset of microorganisms to disperse via air more efficiently, providing potential advantages in establishment in new environments. While traits associated with atmospheric survival and deposition are well documented, microbial aerosolization is still generally presumed to be stochastic, primarily due to the small size of microorganisms and their lack of active biological ejection mechanisms like those found in seeds and larger fungal spores. However, emerging evidence suggests that uplift into the atmosphere is a dynamic interaction between physical forces in the environment and specific biological traits. This review synthesizes observations from genomic source tracking studies and laboratory experiments that describe how preferential enrichment of certain taxa into the atmosphere is based on intrinsic properties including extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) mediated aggregation, cell surface hydrophobicity, surfactant production, and other potentially relevant microbial traits. Additional candidate traits that may contribute to enhanced aerosolization are identified along with the potential mechanistic basis by which they might influence uplift. Future work with controlled chamber studies on single organisms and integration of atmospheric flux measurements with trait-based microbial uplift can provide a mechanistic basis for more accurate models of bioaerosol flux. Improving our comprehension of bioaerosol aerosolization behavior and flux is critical to understanding the dispersal of microorganisms across diverse habitats and their subsequent impacts on ecosystems, global climate, and the spread of diseases.

The atmosphere harbors a diverse and dynamic reservoir of microorganisms, yet their distribution in the atmosphere and response to environmental variation remains a subject of ongoing investigation. In this study, we compared airborne bacterial and fungal communities at subalpine forest (NWT) and steppe grassland (CPER) sites, over diel, vertical, and seasonal gradients. Air samples were collected at three heights over 4 months at NWT with concurrent sampling at CPER during two of those months. Fungal communities exhibited greater site-specific variability and sensitivity to environmental factors than bacterial communities, particularly at NWT, where vertical stratification and diel cycles significantly structured microbial diversity. In comparison, bacterial communities were temporally dynamic but showed weaker responses to local environmental conditions and minimal site-level differences. This may indicate broader dispersal and a ubiquitous set of bacterial taxa. Environmental drivers, such as atmospheric moisture and air pressure, strongly influenced microbial beta-diversity at NWT, while air temperature and wind speed impacted diversity at CPER, again highlighting ecosystem-specific responses. Despite compositional differences, a subset of shared bacterial and fungal ASVs was consistently detected across sites, with most shared ASVs detected at greater heights at NWT. This, along with wind patterns moving eastward from NWT toward CPER, indicates potential atmospheric transport between sites, with taxa dispersal being filtered by height. These results underscore the role of ecosystem structure, meteorological conditions, and air mass movement in shaping the aerobiome and suggest that airborne microbial communities are shaped by both local emission and long-range atmospheric transport processes.IMPORTANCEUnderstanding the drivers of airborne microbial community structure is essential for predicting microbial dispersal, ecosystem connectivity, and responses to environmental change. This study reveals that atmospheric fungal and bacterial communities are shaped by distinct ecological and environmental factors, with fungi exhibiting stronger site-specific responses and vertical stratification than bacteria. The contrasting patterns between subalpine forest and grassland ecosystems underscore how local conditions influence microbial diversity and transport potential. Importantly, the detection of shared taxa, especially at greater sampling heights, suggests that atmospheric transport may connect distant ecosystems and that certain taxa are ubiquitous. These findings highlight the complexity of the aerobiome and its sensitivity to spatial and temporal dynamics, providing new insights into microbial distribution and the role of the atmosphere in microbial exchange across landscapes.

In this study, we used coniferous and non-coniferous hosts to assess the pathogenicity of a Fusarium annulatum isolate derived from southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis), along with F. commune isolates derived from coniferous and herbaceous, non-conifer hosts. All isolates of both Fusarium spp. were found to be pathogenic to conifer hosts. For the tested non-coniferous hosts, F. commune isolates were found to be pathogenic to both rice and tomato, whereas F. annulatum was pathogenic to rice and potentially less aggressive on tomato. To investigate the molecular basis of pathogenicity, we identified differentially expressed pathogenicity-/virulence-associated genes by inoculating loblolly pine (P. taeda) seedlings with isolates of conifer-derived F. commune (collected from ponderosa pine [P. ponderosa]) and F. annulatum (collected from southwestern white pine), which were all previously confirmed to be pathogenic to loblolly pine in our assays. Seedlings were harvested at 12, 24, and 48 h postinoculation for transcriptomic analyses to identify pathogen genes associated with early infection of the host. Among the upregulated in planta (UIP) genes, we identified putative pathogenicity-/virulence-associated genes, including secreted effectors, secondary metabolite gene clusters involved in mycotoxin biosynthesis, and carbohydrate-active enzymes. To identify the putative conifer pathogenicity profiles of these potential conifer pathogens, we compared these UIP genes with the predicted proteomes of 17 conifer-associated Fusarium spp. isolates. These putative pathogenicity profiles did not definitively correspond with pathogenicity on coniferous versus herbaceous hosts but rather aligned with Fusarium species complexes. A subset of these shared UIP genes may aid in the development of detection methods for conifer-specific pathogens based on Fusarium species complexes. [Formula: see text] The author(s) have dedicated the work to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 "No Rights Reserved" license by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law, 2026.

Forests are central to planetary health but are increasingly challenged by emerging diseases driven by climate change, global trade, and anthropogenic disturbance. Despite the apparent resilience of long-lived, genetically diverse tree hosts, forest ecosystems have repeatedly experienced landscape-level pathogen-driven transformations. Advances in genomics, transcriptomics, and functional biology have transformed our understanding of how fungal and oomycete pathogens interact with their hosts across a continuum of lifestyles, from saprotrophy and necrotrophy to biotrophy. Here, we synthesize insights from comparative and population genomics and functional studies across diverse forest pathosystems to examine the traits that characterize successful tree pathogens. We highlight how lifestyle plasticity, adaptations to woody tissues, vector-mediated transmission, and biotrophic stealth enable pathogens to colonize perennial hosts and persist over long temporal scales. We further examine how genome plasticity, hybridization, and horizontal gene transfer generate adaptive potential that often outpaces host evolutionary responses under current environmental change. Finally, we discuss emerging genomic tools, including biosurveillance, machine learning-based classification, and genome editing, that are beginning to link genotype to phenotype and inform assessments of disease risk. By integrating genomic, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives, this review outlines general principles governing forest pathogen success and identifies priorities for future research aimed at improving understanding, early detection, and management of forest diseases in a changing world.

White pine blister rust (WPBR) is a disease on North American five-needle white pine trees caused by the non-native fungal pathogen Cronartium ribicola that is causing widespread decline and mortality of Pinus flexilis (limber pine) in high elevation western forests. Elucidating the infection process is important for developing solutions for managing the disease. As an obligate biotroph, C. ribicola infects pine needles through stomatal pores and parasitizes needle tissue before growing into the stem, causing stem cankers. Pinus flexilis retains 8-9 years of needles on shoots, and it remains unclear whether infection and fungal colonisation, as well as the quantities of epicuticular wax, differ between needles of various age classes or between trees with and without major gene resistance to WPBR. To assess the relationship between quantity of C. ribicola DNA in P. flexilis needles, needle age, and resistance status, P. flexilis shoots from mature resistant and susceptible field trees were artificially inoculated with C. ribicola, where dispersal of fungal inoculum was applied evenly across all needle age classes. The quantity of epicuticular wax by needle age class and tree resistance status was explored. The results demonstrate that all needle age classes of P. flexilis are susceptible to C. ribicola infection. A significant positive correlation between needle age class and C. ribicola DNA quantity, regardless of tree resistance status, was noted. Additionally, epicuticular wax weight increased significantly with needle age, and wax did not appear to hinder needle colonisation by C. ribicola.

Disturbances may shift forest ecosystem disease dynamics when they affect populations of insects that vector plant pathogens. Sawyer beetles (Monochamus spp.) are common in conifer forests and beetles recruit to and colonize stressed hosts including those exposed or adjacent to wildfires. Monochamus spp. are also vectors of a lethal vascular wilt caused by pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), which is phoretic on beetles. Here we tested whether temporal and spatial proximity to wildfire events (2020 Cameron Peak and Cal-Wood Fires, Colorado, USA) predict detection of B. xylophilus in two sympatric Monochamus species (M. clamator and M. scutellatus) in the southern Rocky Mountains. Beetle flight phenology was also tested relative to B. xylophilus phoresy. Beetles were collected over three field seasons corresponding to 1, 2, and 4 years post-wildfire (2021, 2022, and 2024) using panel traps and subsequently tested for B. xylophilus. Detection of B. xylophilus was elevated in beetle populations 1 year following wildfire (29.8 and 11.8

IntroductionFungal communities are central elements of phytobiomes, yet their roles in mediating plant-insect interactions remain poorly understood. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap in quinoa, which has recently suffered significant losses due to a stem-boring pest. MethodsWe used culture-based isolation from stems and amplicon-based profiling of rhizosphere soils to characterize quinoa-associated fungi across six site-year combinations in Colorado and to relate community patterns to abundance of stem-boring fly Amauromyza karli Hendel (Diptera: Agromyzidae).ResultsEighteen stem endophytes dominated by Ascomycota were isolated. Soil sequencing resolved 23 core amplicon sequence variants detected across all site-years; the core was primarily Ascomycota, with Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp., and Plectosphaerella spp. comprising over half of relative abundance of the entire community. Alpha diversity (richness, Shannon, inverse Simpson) differed significantly among site-years, and beta-diversity analyses revealed clustering by site and year. Abundance of adult A. karli was correlated positively with soil fungal richness and Shannon diversity and was also significantly associated with differences in community composition. Indicator and differential-abundance analyses identified taxa linked to low fly abundance (e.g., Cladosporium herbarum, Alternaria spp.) versus high abundance (e.g., Fusarium solani, Microdochium spp.). Fusarium spp., and Alternaria spp. were more prevalent in fields with high larval abundance, whereas antagonistic endophytes such as Gibellulopsis piscis and Heydenia spp. dominated in low-abundance fields.DiscussionThese results indicated that community composition impacted pest pressure, with pathogenic fungi coinciding with higher fly abundance and entomopathogenic fungi enriched where larval pressure was lower. These findings identify candidate taxa for microbiome-informed integrated pest management and underscore the potential of site-specific practices (e.g., intercrops, organic amendments) to foster fungal communities that enhance quinoa resilience.

Globally, pine forest ecosystems are under increased threat of foliar fungal pathogens. This includes brown spot needle blight (BSNB), caused by Lecanosticta acicola. High disease severity of BSNB has been observed in loblolly pine plantations across the Southeastern U.S., causing substantial declines in productivity. Because foliar disease outcomes depend on phyllosphere community interactions, shifts in community composition under climate variation may influence outbreak potential of L. acicola. To investigate these interactions, fungal communities in first- and second-year symptomatic and asymptomatic needle tissue were examined over two years across six loblolly pine plantations in central Louisiana. L. acicola was consistently enriched in symptomatic needles and emerged as a strong indicator of disease, including increasing crown dieback, particularly in first-year needles. Disease progression was associated with reduced fungal diversity and pronounced shifts in community composition, consistent with microbiome dysbiosis. Additional fungi, including Lophodermium and Soleella, were enriched in symptomatic needles, likely representing opportunistic associates with a potential role in disease. There were distinct differences in the relationship with climate variables for symptomatic and asymptomatic communities. Symptomatic communities were associated with higher humidity, higher minimum temperatures, and reduced solar radiation, whereas asymptomatic communities were correlated with warmer, drier conditions. Our findings demonstrate that BSNB severity reflects both L. acicola infection and broader needle fungal community disruption, with first-year needles being especially vulnerable. These results underscore the need to integrate microbial community dynamics and climate into disease monitoring and management, as increasing humidity, warmer nights, and more variable precipitation likely elevate fungal pathogen risk.

The international spread of the myrtle rust pathogen, Austropuccinia psidii, can be largely attributed to the “pandemic” biotype that has more than 450 host species. However, within South America, the putative native range of A. psidii, multiple biotypes have been characterised, each with a restricted known number of hosts. These biotypes may pose a significant biosecurity threat to countries already affected by the pandemic biotype. Here, we report the susceptibility of four species of Myrtaceae from New Zealand, pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium), kānuka (Kunzea ericoides), and rawiri mānuka (Kunzea ericoides ‘gumland ecotype’), to a strain of the Eucalyptus biotype of A. psidii. Symptoms and signs developed on inoculated plants of all species. Qualitative resistance phenotypes, with no disease development, were observed for all four species. However, no hypersensitive responses were observed. As seen for other biotypes, pōhutukawa had the greatest susceptibility, while kānuka had the lowest. These findings are consistent with prior work, showing that the Eucalyptus biotype can infect a broader range of species than its field host association implies. As well as uredinia (asexual spores), telia (sexual spores) developed on several plants, indicating that these species could provide a universal host for sexual reproduction and outcrossing between biotypes. Knowledge that the Eucalyptus biotype of A. psidii is virulent on several indigenous New Zealand Myrtaceae will inform future biosecurity risk assessments. These findings highlight the need to develop diagnostics tools to differentiate between biotypes and allow rapid responses to potential future incursions.

Cercosporidium personatum (CP) causes peanut late leaf spot (LLS) disease with 70% yield losses unless controlled by fungicides. CP grows slowly in culture, exhibiting variable phenotypes. To explain those variations, we analyzed the morphology, genomes, transcriptomes and chemical composition of three morphotypes, herein called RED, TAN, and BROWN. We characterized, for the first time in CP, anthraquinone (AQ) precursors of dothistromin (DOT), including averantin, averufin, norsolorinic acid, versicolorin B, versicolorin A, nidurufin and averufanin. BROWN had the highest AQ and melanin (15 mg/g DW) contents. RED had the highest ergosterol (855 µM FW) and chitin (beta-glucans, 4% DW) contents. RED and TAN had higher resistance to xenobiotics (p ≤ 1.0E-3), including chlorothalonil, tebuconazole and caffeine, compared to CP NRRL 64,463. In RED, TAN, and BROWN, rates of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) (1.4–1.7 nt/kb) and amino acid changes (3k-4k) were higher than in NRRL 64,463. Differential gene expression (p ≤ 1.0E-5) was observed in 47 pathogenicity/virulence genes, 41 carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), and 23 pigment/mycotoxin biosynthesis genes. We describe the MAT1 locus, and a method to evaluate CP-xenobiotic resistance in 5 days. Chemical profiles indicate each CP morphotype could trigger different immune response in plants, probably hindering development of durable LLS resistance.

Korean oak wilt disease associated with Dryadomyces quercus-mongolicae recently emerged as a major tree disease in South Korea. A comprehensive transcriptome analysis is presented for D. quercus-mongolicae grown in vitro on three different culture media, identifying nearly 7,000 expressed transcripts. Most transcripts are associated with proteins essential for fungal survival and growth. The 40S ribosomal protein S25, ceramide very long chain fatty acid hydroxylase, Epl1 protein, and ADP/ATP translocase are particularly important due to their critical roles in the metabolism and environmental adaptation of fungi. Gene ontology analyses revealed that 39.4%, 61.2%, and 43.3% of transcripts were successfully annotated to biological process, molecular functions, and cellular component aspects, respectively. Furthermore, key metabolic pathways were elucidated, including sphingolipid metabolism, L-tryptophan biosynthesis, and glycolysis, which provide important information on physiological functioning of D. quercus-mongolicae. Overall, these findings provide key information on fundamental biological mechanisms of D. quercus-mongolicae.

White pine blister rust (WPBR) is one of North America's most damaging tree epidemics. Aggregating data from more than 80 independent studies across the western U.S. from 1995-2024, we estimate WPBR risk for high-elevation five-needle pine species (High-5) from 1980-2023 in the adaptive management tool RustMapper. WPBR risk is the probability of observing WPBR on the High-5. Stream density, topography, hardiness zone, precipitation, air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and relative humidity were critical in estimating WPBR risk. WPBR risk increased with moisture and declined with temperature. Across the High-5 range, suitable conditions were found in areas where the disease had not yet invaded and throughout regions where the disease was well established. As a result, the mean risk for WPBR was much higher in the north (~0.6) compared to the southern portions of the High-5 range (~0.15). These findings indicate cautious optimism for disease mitigation success in regions where the disease is established and urgency for proactive management where WPBR occurrence is currently low.

Fruit of hardy kiwifruit cultivars respond differently to chilling stress during cold storage. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the differential responses of fruit quality attributes, physiological disorders, and untargeted and targeted metabolites of two contrasting hardy kiwifruit cultivars, 'Greenheart' and 'Daebo' during cold storage. During cold storage, the 'Daebo' cultivar exhibited more severe symptoms of chilling injury, such as peel browning and peel pitting, compared to the 'Greenheart' cultivar. Untargeted and targeted metabolic analyses indicated that syringic acid, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, catechin, rutin, ferulic acid, quinic acid, citramalic acid, and isoquercitrin levels were higher in 'Greenheart' compared to 'Daebo' during cold storage. However, citric, isocitric, and threonic acids, gamma-aminobutyric acid, cysteine, beta-alanine, titratable acidity, epicatechin, and proline were high in the 'Daebo' cultivar. Peel browning and pitting were positively correlated with soluble carbohydrates, organic acids, and amino acids but negatively correlated with individual phenolic compounds in 'Daebo' cultivar. The tricarboxylic acid cycle, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, arginine biosynthesis, and alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism were upregulated in the 'Daebo' cultivar, whereas the phenylpropanoid pathway was upregulated in the 'Greenheart' cultivar. Our study showed that differentially upregulated pathways could lead to the contrasting development of necrotic peel disorders in these two hardy kiwifruit cultivars during cold storage. Our results suggest that the distinctive responses of metabolic analyses to chilling stress can contribute to susceptibility in chilling-induced necrotic peel disorders in cold-stored fruit of the 'Daebo' hardy kiwifruit cultivar.

Although Armillaria solidipes was described in 1900, confusion has surrounded the appropriate use of this taxonomic epithet, largely because DNA sequence-based characterization and an associated culture were unavailable for the original holotype. An epitype for A. solidipes (previously known as North American Biological Species I) is established herein, along with morphological descriptions and genetic characterization that clearly distinguish A. solidipes, which is found in North America, from A. ostoyae (previously known as European Biological Species C), which is found in Eurasia. Of the five loci examined, translation elongation factor 1-alpha was the most useful for distinguishing A. solidipes from other Armillaria spp. including A. ostoyae. Further, the whole genome phylogeny of A. solidipes and A. ostoyae showed substantial differences that further demonstrate their separation. The specimen from Colorado, USA, which was collected in the locality where the original type specimen was collected, is designated as the epitype.

The genus Armillaria is a broad group of basidiomycete (Agaricales, Physalacriaceae) plant pathogens that can have detrimental effects on woody hosts in forested, urban, and horticultural landscapes. Several species are known as aggressive root pathogens on both conifers and deciduous woody plants. Armillaria species are considered white rot fungi due to their capacity to degrade both lignin and cellulose in woody tissues. Armillaria mexicana was recently described as a new species found in peach (Prunus persica) orchards of Coatepec Harinas, State of Mexico. However, a subsequent study identified A. mexicana on avocado (Persea americana) and pine (Pinus sp.), suggesting that A. mexicana may be able to infect diverse hosts that are planted in disturbed areas following deforestation. We assembled a reference genome for A. mexicana consisting of 38 contigs constructed using PacBio and Illumina sequencing reads. Genome annotation and comparison with A. mellea, a phylogenetic sister taxon, revealed notable differences, including a larger number of interspersed repeats in A. mexicana and the absence of small RNAs, which were detected in A. mellea. While A. mexicana (49 Mb) has a roughly 30% smaller genome than A. mellea (70 Mb), it has a similar number of genes encoding pectinases and nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and NPRS-like secondary metabolites, which may influence the pathogenicity of A. mexicana. This reference genome of A. mexicana allows future genomic comparisons that can help characterize the evolutionary history and enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in pathogenicity and wood decomposition of Armillaria species.

IntroductionSoil-borne pathogens cause considerable crop losses and food insecurity in smallholder systems of sub-Saharan Africa. Soil and crop testing is critical for estimating pathogen inoculum levels and potential for disease development, understanding pathogen interactions with soil nutrient and water limitations, as well as for developing informed soil health and disease management decisions. However, formal laboratory analyses and diagnostic services for pathogens are often out of reach for smallholder farmers due to the high cost of testing and a lack of local laboratories.MethodsTo address this challenge, we assessed the performance of a suite of simplified soil bioassays to screen for plant parasitic nematodes (e.g., Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus) and other key soil-borne pathogens (Pythium and Fusarium). We sampled soils from on-farm trials in western Kenya examining the impact of distinct nutrient inputs (organic vs. synthetic) on bean production. Key soil health parameters and common soil-borne pathogens were evaluated using both simple bioassays and formal laboratory methods across eleven farms, each with three nutrient input treatments (66 samples in total).Results and DiscussionThe soil bioassays, which involved counting galls on lettuce roots and lesions on soybean were well correlated with the abundance of gall forming (Meloidogyne) and root lesion nematodes (e.g., Pratylenchus) recovered in standard laboratory-based extractions. Effectiveness of a Fusarium bioassay, involving the counting of lesions on buried bean stems, was verified via sequencing and a pathogenicity test of cultured Fusarium strains. Finally, a Pythium soil bioassay using selective media clearly distinguished pathogen infestation of soils and infected seeds. When examining management impact on nematode communities, soils amended with manure had fewer plant parasites and considerably more bacterivore and fungivore nematodes compared to soils amended with synthetic N and P. Similarly, Pythium presence was 35% lower in soils amended with manure, while the Fusarium assays indicated 23% higher Fusarium infection in plots with amended manure. Our findings suggest that relatively simple bioassays can be used to help farmers assess soil-borne pathogens in a timely manner, with minimal costs, thus enabling them to make informed decisions on soil health and pathogen management.