Advances in Oomycete Virus Research

Dear Colleagues,

Oomycetes are heterotrophic saprophytes and parasites of plant and animal hosts. Their morphology and habitat are highly similar to filamentous fungi but phylogenetically they are closer to brown algae and diatoms and belong to the Kingdom Stramenopila (Heterokonta). In general, relatively little is known about virus communities inhabiting oomycetes. Most of the research developed so far has focused on the genus Phytophthora, whose members are significant global plant and forest pathogens causing important economic losses in agriculture, horticulture and forest industry, and they are major threats to natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Nevertheless, a number of new viruses have been also found in other oomycetes with very diverse ecosystems and lifestyles, such as downy mildews (biotrophic plant parasites), water and soilborne oomycetes of the genus Pythium, and Halophytophthora species from estuary ecosystems.

Although the advent of new molecular technologies has brought the opportunity to presume a rich diversity of oomycete viruses, there is still a long way to understand, what is their origin? What is the effect on their hosts? How closely related to diatom viruses they are? How do they transmit? Are there oomycete viruses with DNA genomes? Are they drivers of the evolution of their hosts? Could they be utilized in controlling their pathogenic hosts?

This special issue is a good opportunity to answer some or all these questions and you are welcome to participate.

Dr. Leticia Botella Sánchez
Prof. Dr. Jarkko Hantula
Dr. Eeva Vainio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.