Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various filamentous, often parasitic heterokonts of the division Oomycota, characterized by bearing female gametes in oogonia. Oomycetes include the downy mildews and other species that cause plant diseases such as late blight.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology Any of a number of filamentous unicellular protists of the class Oomycetes; the water molds

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[oo– + –mycete.]

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Examples

  • Unrestrained by the host's damaged immune system, the infecting fungus or oomycete is free to spread unchecked throughout the host's tissues.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • It also suggests that this phenomenon may, in fact, be an attack mechanism common to fungal and oomycete diseases of plants, animals and humans.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • Prior experience with cloning and characterization of oomycete avirulence effectors highly desired.

    Naturejobs - All Jobs 2010

  • The Tyler team's findings also demonstrated that it is possible to block fungi and oomycete effectors from entering host cells by preventing them from attaching to binding lipids.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • Agriculture -- once a fungus or an oomycete comes into contact with a host, it may initiate an infection by secreting a special protein, called an effector, into spaces between the host's cells.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • Molecular characterization and functional analyses of effectors from the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora infestans with particular emphasis on host-translocated

    Naturejobs - All Jobs 2010

  • Molecular characterization and functional analyses of effectors from the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora infestans with particular emphasis on host-translocated

    Naturejobs - All Jobs 2010

  • Once the host's immune system has been disabled, the fungus or oomycete swiftly follows up, breaking and entering the cell and unleashing disease.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2010

  • Prior experience with cloning and characterization of oomycete avirulence effectors highly desired.

    Naturejobs - All Jobs 2010

  • This discovery suggests that fungal and oomycete effectors might also enter animal and human cells through the same newly-discovered method they use to enter plants.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • Late blight is caused by Phytophthora infestans, a fungus-like organism called an oomycete (pronounced oh-oh-MY-seat) that requires a living host to overwinter in most of the United States.

    What’s Wrong With Your Tomatoes? By 2021

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