Sudden oak death, caused by the pathogen Phythophthora ramorum, is one of the most ecologically devastating forest diseases in North America, responsible for the deaths of millions of oaks and tanoaks along the coast. After the success of genetically modified organisms in things like insulin and food, a recent trend is Genetically Rescued Organisms. Image by RegalShave from PixabayScientists at the University of California, Davis, set out to investigate the sporulation potential of this pathogen on common California plant species. They collected leaves from 13 common plant hosts in the Big Sur-region and inoculated them with the causal pathogen. They also observed an inconsistent relationship between sporulation and lesion size, indicating that visual symptoms are not a reliable metric of sporulation potential.