The Togashi data set, an open database of fungal and oomycete cardinal temperatures

An open database providing cardinal temperatures (minimum, optimum and maximum) for various physiological and growth processes of plant pathogenic fungi and oomycetes reported in Togashi (1949).

Background

Cardinal temperatures provide a basic definition of the temperature response functions, or thermal performance curves (TPCs), of physiological processes. The cardinal temperatures are the minimum temperature (Tmin) below which a process will not occur, the optimal temperature (Topt) at which the process occurs most rapidly, and the maximum temperature (Tmax) above which the process ceases. A large collection of experimentally-determined cardinal temperatures for hundreds of plant pathogens was published by Togashi (1949) and has now been digitized.

What is the database for?

Cardinal temperatures can be useful for epidemiological models of plant disease (Bebber 2019). Cardinal temperatures can help to understand the ecological niche of plant pathogens (Chaloner, Gurr, and Bebber 2020) and how temperature physiology evolves under climate change, for example.

What’s next?

The data published in Togashi (1949) are old, and many experimental studies on plant pathogen temperature responses have been published since (examples in (Magarey, Sutton, and Thayer 2005)). New estimates of cardinal temperatures can be estimated from published thermal performance curves (Bebber 2019). Future work will involve collating TPCs and estimating cardinal temperatures from the literature.

Further information

Screenshot of Togashi data set repository available from Dryad.

Data source: (“Fungal and Oomycete Cardinal Temperatures (the Togashi data set)” 2020)

Togashi, K. (1949). Biological characters of plant pathogens: Temperature relations. Meibundo.

Contact: Dan Bebber