image: This is the tree of parasitic life. A phylogenetic tree illustrating the sequence similarities of powdery mildew genes though to encode “effectors”: proteins devoted to subverting host immunity and metabolism for the mildews’ own benefit. This image relates to an article that appeared in the Dec. 10, 2010, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Pietro D. Spanu at Imperial College London in London, UK, and colleagues was titled, "Genome Expansion and Gene Loss in Powdery Mildew Fungi Reveal Tradeoffs in Extreme Parasitism." view more
Credit: Image © <i>Science</i>/AAAS