Plasmodiophora brassicae in Mexico: From Anecdote to Fact

For years, the presence of clubroot disease and its causal agent, , in Mexico has been stated as a fact. However, an intensive search of the scientific literature in English and Spanish, as well as gray literature including theses and government reports, did not reveal any information about the actual detection of the pathogen, affected hosts, or areas with clubroot presence, or any information about clubroot ( in Mexico). We followed a multistep process to confirm whether was indeed in Mexico. First, we identified agricultural communities with a history of cruciferous crop cultivation. Second, we asked growers if they had seen clubroot on their crops, using pictures of the characteristic root galls. Third, we collected soil from the locations where clubroot was reported and looked for clubroot/ in the soil using several cruciferous bait plants. For the first time we confirm the presence of the clubroot pathogen in Mexico, through a bioassay, the presence of resting spores, and a -specific PCR assay. The identification of in Mexico will contribute to our understanding of the genetic diversity of this elusive and devastating plant pathogen in future studies. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.