Eduard August von Regel

Bremia is a genus of water moulds in the family Peronosporaceae. The genus name of Bremia is in honour of Johann Jakob Bremi (1791–1857), a Swiss 'Kunsthandwerker' (artist wood turner) and entomologist from Zürich. The genus was circumscribed by Eduard August von Regel in Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) Vol.1 on page 665 in 1843. Members of the genus are obligate parasites whose hosts are members of the plant family Asteraceae, on which they form downy mildew. While previously thought to not be a particularly diverse genus with most records being attributed to the species Bremia lactucae (which is

Bremia lactucae is a plant pathogen. This microorganism causes a disease of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) denominated as downy mildew. Some other strains can be found on 36 genera of Asteraceae including Senecio and Sonchus. Experiments using sporangia from hosts do not infect lettuce and it is concluded that the fungus exists as a quantity of host-specific strains (formae speciales). Wild species, such as Lactuca serriola, or varieties of Lactuca can hold strains that infect lettuce, but these pathogens are not sufficiently common to seriously infect the plant. The severity of damage caused by