Editing Texas root rot (section)

== Host and symptoms ==
''Phymatotrichopsis omnivora'' is a [[necrotrophic]] fungal pathogen that has a very broad host range, attacking almost 2000 [[dicot]]yledonous species. It inhabits alkaline, [[calcareous soil]]s in southwestern United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/a229.pdf|title=Phymatotrichum Root Rot|last=Goldberg|first=Natalie|date=2005|website= [[New Mexico State College of Agriculture]], Consumer and Environmental Sciences|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> It particularly targets dicots as most [[monocot]]s are immune.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Olson|first=Mary|date=February 2000|title=Cotton (Texas) Root Rot|url=http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/diseases/az1150.html|access-date=1 December 2016|website=Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, The [[University of Arizona]] }}</ref> Economically important plant hosts affected by the pathogen include: [[peanut]]s, [[cotton]], [[alfalfa]], [[apple]], [[pecan]]s, and [[ornamental tree]]s.

First [[symptom]] of disease is often [[chlorosis]] of the leaves then followed by browning and wilting. Two weeks after the first symptoms appear, the plant dies.<ref name=":0" /> In the field, infected cotton plants exhibit wilting in the mid to late summer form large circular patches and later die. Upon closer examination, the host plant's vascular system show extensive discoloration.<ref name=":0" /> Beneath the soil surface, other observable signs are present. Distinctive cruciform branched [[hypha]]e develop on infected root tissue which are observable with [[compound microscope]] (Figure 1). In addition, taproots of the infect plant are covered in mycelial strands.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Marek|first1=S.M.|last2=Hansen|first2=K.|last3=Romanish|first3=M.|last4=Thorn|first4=R.G.|date=2016-12-08|title=Molecular systematics of the cotton root rot pathogen, ''Phymatotrichopsis omnivora''|journal=Persoonia|volume=22|pages=63–74|doi=10.3767/003158509X430930|issn=0031-5850|pmc=2789547|pmid=20198139}}</ref>
[[File:Cuciform Hyphae of P. Omnivera.jpg|thumb|Figure 1: Cruciform hyphae is a unique sign observable using a [[compound microscope]]]]
Another macroscopic sign is tan and white spore mats developed on the soil surface near the infected plants during favorable high moisture environmental conditions.<ref name=":0" /> Despite the name, these spore mats are not known to aid in dispersal. Although presence of the [[conidia]]l phase on the spore mats is known, the function of the conidia remains unknown since conidial germination is rarely observed.<ref name=":1" />