Current status of Phytophthora in Australia.

Among the most economically relevant and environmentally devastating diseases globally are those caused by Phytophthora species. In Australia, production losses in agriculture and forestry result from several well-known cosmopolitan Phytophthora species and infestation of natural ecosystems by Phytophthora cinnamomi have caused irretrievable loss to biodiversity especially in proteaceous dominated heathlands. For this review, all available records of Phytophthora in Australia were collated and curated, resulting in a database of 7 869 records, of which 2 957 have associated molecular data. Australian databases hold records for 99 species, of which 20 are undescribed. Eight species have no records linked to molecular data, and their presence in Australia is considered doubtful. The 99 species reside in 10 of the 12 clades recognised within the complete phylogeny of Phytophthora. The review includes discussion on each of these species' status and additional information provided for another 29 species of concern. The first species reported in Australia in 1900 was Phytophthora infestans. By 2000, 27 species were known, predominantly from agriculture. The significant increase in species reported in the subsequent 20 years has coincided with extensive surveys in natural ecosystems coupled with molecular taxonomy and the recognition of numerous new phylogenetically distinct but morphologically similar species. Routine and targeted surveys within Australian natural ecosystems have resulted in the description of 27 species since 2009. Due to the new species descriptions over the last 20 years, many older records have been reclassified based on molecular identification. The distribution of records is skewed toward regions with considerable activity in high productivity agriculture, horticulture and forestry, and native vegetation at risk from P. cinnamomi. Native and exotic hosts of different Phytophthora species are found throughout the phylogeny; however, species from clades 1, 7 and 8 are more likely to be associated with exotic hosts. One of the most difficult challenges to overcome when establishing a pest status is a lack of reliable data on the current state of a species in any given country or location. The database compiled here for Australia and the information provided for each species overcomes this challenge. This review will aid federal and state governments in risk assessments and trade negotiations by providing a comprehensive resource on the current status of Phytophthora species in Australia. Citation: Burgess TI, Edwards J, Drenth A, et al. 2021. Current status of Phytophthora in Australia. Persoonia 47: 151-177. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2021.47.05.

Current status of Phytophthora in Australia.

Among the most economically relevant and environmentally devastating diseases globally are those caused by Phytophthora species. In Australia, production losses in agriculture and forestry result from several well-known cosmopolitan Phytophthora species and infestation of natural ecosystems by Phytophthora cinnamomi have caused irretrievable loss to biodiversity especially in proteaceous dominated heathlands. For this review, all available records of Phytophthora in Australia were collated and curated, resulting in a database of 7 869 records, of which 2 957 have associated molecular data. Australian databases hold records for 99 species, of which 20 are undescribed. Eight species have no records linked to molecular data, and their presence in Australia is considered doubtful. The 99 species reside in 10 of the 12 clades recognised within the complete phylogeny of Phytophthora. The review includes discussion on each of these species' status and additional information provided for another 29 species of concern. The first species reported in Australia in 1900 was Phytophthora infestans. By 2000, 27 species were known, predominantly from agriculture. The significant increase in species reported in the subsequent 20 years has coincided with extensive surveys in natural ecosystems coupled with molecular taxonomy and the recognition of numerous new phylogenetically distinct but morphologically similar species. Routine and targeted surveys within Australian natural ecosystems have resulted in the description of 27 species since 2009. Due to the new species descriptions over the last 20 years, many older records have been reclassified based on molecular identification. The distribution of records is skewed toward regions with considerable activity in high productivity agriculture, horticulture and forestry, and native vegetation at risk from P. cinnamomi. Native and exotic hosts of different Phytophthora species are found throughout the phylogeny; however, species from clades 1, 7 and 8 are more likely to be associated with exotic hosts. One of the most difficult challenges to overcome when establishing a pest status is a lack of reliable data on the current state of a species in any given country or location. The database compiled here for Australia and the information provided for each species overcomes this challenge. This review will aid federal and state governments in risk assessments and trade negotiations by providing a comprehensive resource on the current status of Phytophthora species in Australia. Citation: Burgess TI, Edwards J, Drenth A, et al. 2021. Current status of Phytophthora in Australia. Persoonia 47: 151-177. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2021.47.05.

Endophytic and pathogenic Phyllosticta species, with reference to those associated with Citrus Black Spot.

We investigated the identity and genetic diversity of more than 100 isolates belonging to Phyllosticta (teleomorph Guignardia), with particular emphasis on Phyllosticta citricarpa and Guignardia mangiferae s.l. occurring on Citrus. Phyllosticta citricarpa is the causal agent of Citrus Black Spot and is subject to phytosanitary legislation in the EU. This species is frequently confused with a taxon generally referred to as G. mangiferae, the presumed teleomorph of P. capitalensis, which is a non-pathogenic endophyte, commonly isolated from citrus leaves and fruits and a wide range of other hosts. DNA sequence analysis of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1, 5.8S nrDNA, ITS2) and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), actin and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) genes resolved nine clades correlating to seven known, and two apparently undescribed species. Phyllosticta citribraziliensis is newly described as an endophytic species occurring on Citrus in Brazil. An epitype is designated for P. citricarpa from material newly collected in Australia, which is distinct from P. citriasiana, presently only known on C. maxima from Asia. Phyllosticta bifrenariae is newly described for a species causing leaf and bulb spots on Bifrenaria harrisoniae (Orchidaceae) in Brazil. It is morphologically distinct from P. capitalensis, which was originally described from Stanhopea (Orchidaceae) in Brazil; an epitype is designated here. Guignardia mangiferae, which was originally described from Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) in India, is distinguished from the non-pathogenic endophyte, P. brazilianiae sp. nov., which is common on M. indica in Brazil. Furthermore, a combined phylogenetic tree revealed the P. capitalensis s.l. clade to be genetically distinct from the reference isolate of G. mangiferae. Several names are available for this clade, the oldest being P. capitalensis. These results suggest that endophytic, non-pathogenic isolates occurring on a wide host range would be more correctly referred to as P. capitalensis. However, more genes need to be analysed to fully resolve the morphological variation still observed within this clade.

Cognitive difficulty in physicians.

PURPOSE: Remediation of some incompetent physicians has proven difficult or impossible. The authors sought to determine whether physicians with impaired competency had neuropsychological impairment sufficient to explain their incompetence and their failure to improve with remedial continuing medical education (CME). METHOD: During a one-year period, 1996-97, all 27 participants in the Physician Review Program (PREP) conducted at McMaster University, a physician competency assessment program, undertook a detailed neuropsychological screening battery. RESULTS: Nearly all physicians assessed as competent also performed well on the neuropsychological testing. However, a significant number (about one third) of the physicians who performed poorly on the competency assessment had neuropsychological impairments sufficient to explain their poor performances. The difficulties were more marked in elderly physicians. CONCLUSION: A significant minority of incompetent physicians have cognitive impairments sufficient to explain both their incompetence and, probably, their failure to improve with remedial CME. Testing physicians for these impairments is important: to detect and treat reversible conditions, to manage irreversible conditions that preclude successful educational intervention, and to facilitate compensation in this instance. Serious consideration should be given to the incorporation of neuropsychological screening in all intensive physician review programs.

Assessing the measurement properties of a clinical reasoning exercise.

BACKGROUND: A challenge for Problem-Based Learning (PBL) schools is to introduce reliable, valid, and cost-effective testing methods into the curriculum in such a way as to maximize the potential benefits of PBL while avoiding problems associated with assessment techniques like multiple-choice question, or MCQ, tests. PURPOSE: We document the continued development of an exam that was designed to satisfy the demands of both PBL and the scientific principles of measurement. METHODS: A total of 102 medical students wrote a clinical reasoning exercise (CRE) as a requirement for two consecutive units of instruction. Each CRE consisted of a series of 18 short clinical problems designed to assess a student's knowledge of the mechanism of diseases that were covered in three subunits located within each unit. Responses were scored by a student's tutor and a 2nd crossover tutor. RESULTS: Generalizability coefficients for raters, subunits, and individual problems were low, but the reliability of the overall test scores and the reliability of the scores across 2 units of instruction were high. Subsequent analyses found that the crossover tutor's ratings were lower than the ratings provided by one's own tutor, and the CRE correlated with the biology component of a progress test. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of the generalizability coefficients demonstrates that the CRE is capable of detecting differences in reasoning across knowledge domains and is therefore a useful evaluation tool.

Defensible assessment of the competency of the practicing physician.

When a physician's license to practice is at stake, professional acceptance and legal challenge are concerns for an organization undertaking competency assessments for practicing physicians. In 1995 the Physician Review and Enhancement Program (PREP), a program of McMaster University sponsored by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, underwent an external review by evaluation experts. As a result, one of the four assessment tools, the Structured Office Oral, was dropped, as it was insufficiently structured to be reliable and because it did not add significantly to the other tools. The content of all assessment tools was revised based on a PREP-developed blueprint for family practice. The multiple-choice questions (MCQs) were upgraded through collaboration with Canada's physician-accrediting body, the Medical Council of Canada (MCC), by the physician assessors, who chose MCQs according to the blueprint from the MCC question bank. The standardized-patient assessment was also refined by these physicians, who developed scenarios of standardized clinical cases with predefined performance criteria. Finally, through collaboration with the American Board of Emergency Medicine, a chart-stimulated recall test, in which the physician's own patient records are used to assess the physician's practice behavior, was restructured to ensure objectivity in standardization and interpretation. The result of these changes in the assessment tools is a more standardized and structured program of assessing physicians' competencies.

Introducing progress testing in McMaster University's problem-based medical curriculum: psychometric properties and effect on learning.

BACKGROUND: The progress test (or Quarterly Profile Examination), invented concurrently by the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and the University of Limburg, is used to provide useful summative and formative judgments about students' knowledge without distorting learning. All students in all classes sit the same examination at regular intervals through the year, and their individual progress is noted. This paper reports on four years' experience with a progress test, the Personal Progress Index (PPI), at the McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences. METHOD: The PPI, a 180-item multiple-choice test with items drawn from all disciplines of medicine, is administered to medical students in all three classes three times per year. Individual feedback is provided, and accumulated student performance is determined for summative purposes. This paper examines extensive evidence of reliability, validity, and effect on student learning, using samples from the entering classes of 1992-1995 (a total of 400 students). RESULTS: Reliabilities across test administrations (within classes) ranged from .46 to .63. The PPI demonstrated strong construct validity, with highly significant statistical tests of differences between classes and changes within classes on successive administrations. The predictive validity of the PPI, i.e., whether it could predict performance on the licensing examination of the Medical Council of Canada, increased monotonically from a correlation of .12 for the first test administration one month into medical school to a high of about .60 for the cumulative score across all administrations three months prior to the examination. CONCLUSION: The PPI seems to be performing as intended, with students showing growth in performance across the three years of the MD program. Additional benefits are that many more students now self-refer for remediation (based on low PPI scores) and that the consistent relative performances of individual students across test administrations allow for the identification of students who have severe and persistent problems.

The risks of thoroughness: Reliability and validity of global ratings and checklists in an OSCE.

OBJECTIVE: To compare checklists against global ratings for student performance on each station in an OSCE without the confounder of the global rating scorer having first filled in the checklist. METHOD: Subjects were 96 medical students completing their pre-clinical studies, who took an 8 station clinical OSCE. 39 students were assessed with detailed performance checklists; 57 students went through the same stations but were assessed using only a single global rating per station. A subset of 39 students were assessed by two independent raters. RESULTS: Inter-rater and inter-station reliability of the global rating was the same as for the checklist. Correlation with a concurrent multiple choice test was similar for both formats. CONCLUSION: The global rating was found to be as reliable as more traditional checklist scoring. A discussion of the validity of checklist and global scores suggests that global ratings may be superior.