P. T. N. SPENCER-PHILLIPS Co-ordinator, Downy Mildew Working Group of the International Society for Plant Pathology University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK Email: peter.spencer-phillips@uwe.ac.uk It is a very great privilege to write the preface to the first specialist book on downy mildews since the major work edited by D. M. Spencer in 1981. The idea for the present publication arose from the Downy Mildew Workshop at the International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP) held in Edinburgh in August 1998. Our intention was to invite reviews on selected aspects of downy mildew biology from international authorities, and link these to a series of related short contributions reporting new data. No attempt has been made to cover the breadth of downy mildew research, but we hope that further topics will be included in future volumes, so that this becomes the first of a series following the five year ICPP cycle.

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Preface; P.T.N. Spencer-Phillips. Towards an Understanding of the Evolution of the Downy Mildews; M.W. Dick. Host Resistance to Downy Mildew Diseases; B. Mauch-Mani. Aspects of the Interactions Between Wild Lactuca SPP. and Related Genera and Lettuce Downy Mildew (Bremia Lactucae); A. Lebeda, et al. Chemical Control of Downy Mildews; U. Gisi. An ITS-Based Phylogenetic Analysis of the Relationships between Peronospora and Phytophthora; D.E.L. Cooke, et al. The Sunflower-Plasmopara Halstedii Pathosystem: Natural and Artificially Induced Coevolution; F. Virányi. Peronospora Valerianellae, the Downy Mildew of Lamb's Lettuce (Valerianella Locusta)l G. Pietrek, V. Zinkernagel. Occurrence and Variation in Virulence of Bremia Lactucae in Natural Populations of Lactuca Serriola; A. Lebeda. Outcrossing of two Homothallic Isolates of Peronospora Parasitica and Segregation of a virulence Matching Six Resistance Loci in Arabidopsis Thaliana; N.D. Gunn, et al. Epidemiology and Control of Pearl Millet Downy Mildew, Sclerospora Graminicola, in Southwest Niger; E. Gilijamse, M.J. Jeger. Effect of Azoxystrobin on the Oospores of Plasmapara Viticola; A. Vercesi, et al. Effects of Azoxystrobin on Infection Development of Plasmopara Viticola; J.E. Young, et al. Local and Systemic Activity of BABA (DL-3-Amino-Butyric Acid) Against Plasmopara Viticola in Grapevines; Y. Cohen, et al. Binomials in the Peronosporales, Sclerosporales and Pythiales; M.W. Dick. Index.