Oomycota

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Oomycota (oomycetes)

aquatic and terrestrial FUNGUS-like ORGANISMS, traditionally classified with the fungi, and according to some authorities, placed in the MASTIGOMYCOTINA. However, unlike most fungi, many oomycetes have a CELL WALL that appears to contain not CHITIN but CELLULOSE, and they typically produce motile ZOOSPORES, with two equal FLAGELLA, in ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION. Furthermore, SEXUAL REPRODUCTION is oogamous (see OOGAMY). Oomycetes may be PARASITES or SAPROBIONTS, and include water moulds and some important PATHOGENS of plants, such as Phytophthora infestans, which causes potato blight. This organism was responsible for the Irish potato famine in the 19th century.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

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zoosporeor swarm spore

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