LINKING APPROACHES IN THE STUDY OF FUNGAL PATHOGENESIS - A COMMENTARY

The study of fungal pathogenicity has occupied pathologists and mycolo gists for more than a century. It is widely recognized that fungi are the most damaging of plant pathogenic microbes and that fungal infecti ons in immunocompromised individuals are on the rise (Sternberg, 1994) . A central question in fungal pathogen research is: What distinguishe s pathogenic fungi from their saprophytic relatives? How we attempt to answer this question is important for pursuing various strategies for controlling fungal growth, Although there are differences between ani mal and plant mycoses, particularly in the host response, mycologists are aware that there are some intriguing similarities in the pathogeni c mechanisms employed by fungal pathogens of both kingdoms (Cole and H och, 1991). In this article we discuss fungal pathogenesis of both pla nts and animals and specifically evaluate two approaches that have bee n used to investigate fungal pathogenic mechanisms.