Genome Evolution in Fungal Plant Pathogens: From Populations to Kingdom-Wide Dynamics

Oggenfuss, Ursula; Feurtey, Alice; Reyes-Avila, Claudia Sarai; Gluck-Thaler, Emile; Puccetti, Guido; Glad, Hanna Maren; Abraham, Leen Nanchira; Stalder, Luzia; Tralamazza, Sabina Moser; González-Sáyer, Sandra Milena; Croll, Daniel

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-29199-9_5

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 147 publications

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“…In eukaryotes, one of the major sources of genetic variation is recombination through sexual mating, yet many organisms, including fungal plant pathogens, preferentially reproduce asexually (Barrett 2010;Möller and Stukenbrock 2017). The absence of sexual recombination necessitates alternative mechanisms for generating genetic variability, including mutations, genomic rearrangements, transposon insertion, and gene duplication or loss (Seidl and Thomma 2014;Oggenfuss et al 2023). However, these processes rely primarily on pre-existing genetic variation, and without the introduction of new genetic material, the adaptive potential of an asexual population is constrained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple horizontal mini-chromosome transfers drive genome evolution of clonal blast fungus lineages

Barragan,

Latorre,

Malmgren

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Crop disease pandemics are often driven by clonal lineages of plant pathogens that reproduce asexually. How these clonal pathogens continuously adapt to their hosts despite harboring limited genetic variation, and in absence of sexual recombination remains elusive. Here, we reveal multiple instances of horizontal chromosome transfer within pandemic clonal lineages of the blast fungus Magnaporthe (Syn. Pyricularia) oryzae. We identified a horizontally transferred 1.2Mb supernumerary mini-chromosome which is remarkably conserved between M. oryzae isolates from both the rice blast fungus lineage and the lineage infecting Indian goosegrass (Eleusine indica), a wild grass that often grows in the proximity of cultivated cereal crops. Furthermore, we show that this mini-chromosome was horizontally acquired by clonal rice blast isolates through at least nine distinct transfer events over the past three centuries. These findings establish horizontal mini-chromosome transfer as a mechanism facilitating genetic exchange among different host-associated blast fungus lineages. We propose that blast fungus populations infecting wild grasses act as genetic reservoirs that drive genome evolution of pandemic clonal lineages that afflict cereal crops.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple horizontal mini-chromosome transfers drive genome evolution of clonal blast fungus lineages

Barragan,

Latorre,

Malmgren

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Multiple Horizontal Mini-chromosome Transfers Drive Genome Evolution of Clonal Blast Fungus Lineages

Barragan,

Latorre,

Malmgren

et al. 2024

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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Crop disease pandemics are often driven by asexually reproducing clonal lineages of plant pathogens that reproduce asexually. How these clonal pathogens continuously adapt to their hosts despite harboring limited genetic variation, and in absence of sexual recombination remains elusive. Here, we reveal multiple instances of horizontal chromosome transfer within pandemic clonal lineages of the blast fungus Magnaporthe (Syn. Pyricularia) oryzae. We identified a horizontally transferred 1.2Mb accessory mini-chromosome which is remarkably conserved between M. oryzae isolates from both the rice blast fungus lineage and the lineage infecting Indian goosegrass (Eleusine indica), a wild grass that often grows in the proximity of cultivated cereal crops. Furthermore, we show that this mini-chromosome was horizontally acquired by clonal rice blast isolates through at least nine distinct transfer events over the past three centuries. These findings establish horizontal mini-chromosome transfer as a mechanism facilitating genetic exchange among different host-associated blast fungus lineages. We propose that blast fungus populations infecting wild grasses act as genetic reservoirs that drive genome evolution of pandemic clonal lineages that afflict cereal crops.

show abstract

Genome Evolution in Fungal Plant Pathogens: From Populations to Kingdom-Wide Dynamics

Cited by 2 publications

References 147 publications

Multiple horizontal mini-chromosome transfers drive genome evolution of clonal blast fungus lineages

Multiple horizontal mini-chromosome transfers drive genome evolution of clonal blast fungus lineages

Multiple Horizontal Mini-chromosome Transfers Drive Genome Evolution of Clonal Blast Fungus Lineages

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