Land Use and Soil Fungal Risk: What a Global Dataset Tells Land Managers

Aerial view of agricultural landscape with crop fields and vegetation patches showing land-use patterns that influence soil fungal pathogen diversity

A global analysis of 511 soil samples finds that surrounding landscape structure — not just local soil conditions — significantly shapes pathogenic fungal diversity. Crop-dominated areas show higher pathogen diversity; vegetation buffers show the reverse.

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Wheat field affected by Fusarium fungal disease, representing crop pathogen evolution studied through historical genomic analysis

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Reading the Evolution of Fungal Pathogens: What Archived Samples Reveal About Crop Disease

A 2025 study sequenced 32 archived fungal genomes spanning fifty years and found that laboratory collections contain direct evidence of pathogen evolution — with changes in pathogenicity genes outpacing fungicide resistance mutations across decades of agricultural intensification.

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Coffee plant branches with wilting leaves and browning cherries in a plantation, showing signs of fungal disease stress

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Coffee Under Siege: How Species-Jumping Fungal Genes Could Reshape Crop Disease

Coffee wilt disease has cost more than $1 billion since the 1990s — and new genomic research shows the pathogen may be acquiring genes from fungi on neighboring plants. The next outbreak may not look like the last.

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Mold News Oomycete Plant Infection Microscopic Structure

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When Fungi Aren’t Fungi: The Hidden Biology of Oomycete Pathogens

Oomycetes look like fungi but behave differently, shaping plant diseases and challenging how we detect and control agricultural pathogens.

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Today’s news

Scientists Investigate Ice-Nucleating Fungi and Their Potential Role in Atmospheric Processes

Virginia Tech researchers are studying fungi capable of initiating ice formation through biological ice nucleation. These fungi may influence plant frost damage, atmospheric processes, and cloud formation. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind fungal ice nucleation could improve agricultural frost protection strategies and expand scientific knowledge of atmospheric microbiology and climate interactions.

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SUMOylation: The Hidden Switch Rewriting the Rules of Plant Immunity

Plant immunity has long been explained through the “disease triangle” of host, pathogen, and environment. But recent studies highlight a hidden regulator: SUMOylation.

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