Presence of Ty1-Copia Group Retrotransposon Sequences in the Potato Late Blight Pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Paul W. Tooley. USDA-ARS, Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research, Ft. Detrick, Frederick, MD 21701, U.S.A. David J. Garfinkel . Gene Regulation and Chromosome Biology Laboratory, NCI-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, ABL-Basic Research Program, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, U.S.A. MPMI 9:305-309. Accepted 7 February 1996. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1996.

Multiple copies of retrotransposon reverse transcriptase coding sequences were identified in Phytophthora infestans by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using degenerate primers. The P. infestans sequences belong to the Tyl-copia superfamily, and putative elements from different P. infestans isolates show restriction site polymorphisms. Some contain complete open reading frames while others do not, indicating the presence of potentially active as well as inactive elements.