An international team of researchers deciphered the genome sequences of two deadly plant pathogens, Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora sojae. Phytophthora belongs to the kingdom Stramenopila, which also includes golden-brown algae and kelp.

Phytophthora causes severe damage in soybean crops in the US causing $1–2 million in annual losses. Meanwhile Phytophthora ramorum, has attacked and killed tens of thousands of oak trees in California and Oregon.

The sequence information could reveal how the Phytophthora twins evolved into sophisticated, plant-killing machines. Already, researchers found out Phytophtoras have a large armory of proteins which is used to attack their plant victims. These include toxins, protein inhibitors and enzymes that break down plant cell walls

The project team from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute says, "The sequences are a fundamental resource with wide-ranging applications for the Phytophthora community. We will be pursuing our investigations of the secreted proteins linked to damage of the plant host in the hope of developing much needed countermeasures against these deadly pathogens."

(Translation: We've had it with these mother-effing Phytoptopras on this mother-effing planet.)