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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Cereal Disease Lab » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #204903
Title: The Fusarium graminearum genome reveals a link between localized polymorphism and pathogen specialization

Author
item CUOMO, CHRISTINA
item GULDENER, ULRICH
item XU, JIN-RONG
item TRAIL, FRANCES
item TURGEON, B. GILLIAN
item DI PIETRO, ANTONIO
item WALTON, JONATHAN
item MA, LI-JUN
item BAKER, SCOTT
item REP, MARTIJN
item ADAM, GERHARD
item ANTONIW, JOHN
item BALDWIN, THOMAS
item CALVO, SARAH
item CHANG, YUEH-LONG
item DECAPRIO, DAVID
item GALE, LIANE
item GNERRE, SANTE
item GOSWAMI, RUBELLA
item HAMMOND-KOSACK, KIM
item HARRIS, LINDA
item Broz, Karen
item KENNELL, JACK
item KROKEN, SCOTT
item MAGNUSON, JON
item MANNHAUPT, GERTRUD
item MAUCELI, EVAN
item MEWES, HANS-WERNER
item MITTERBAUER, RUDOLF
item MUEHLBAUER, GARY
item MUNSTERKOTTER, MARTIN
item NELSON, DAVID
item O Donnell, Kerry
item OUELLET, THERESE
item QI, WEIHONG
item QUESNEVILLE, HADI
item RONCERO, M. ISABEL
item SEONG, KYE-YONG
item TETKO, IGOR
item URBAN, MARTIN
item WAALWIJK, CEES
item Ward, Todd
item YAO, JIQIANG
item BIRREN, BRUCE
item Kistler, Harold

Submitted to: Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/4/2007
Publication Date: 9/7/2007
Citation: Cuomo, C.A., Guldener, U., Xu, J., Trail, F., Turgeon, B., Di Pietro, A., Walton, J.D., Ma, L., Baker, S.E., Rep, M., Adam, G., Antoniw, J., Baldwin, T., Calvo, S., Chang, Y., Decaprio, D., Gale, L., Gnerre, S., Goswami, R.S., Hammond-Kosack, K., Harris, L.J., Hilburn, K.L., Kennell, J., Kroken, S., Magnuson, J.K., Mannhaupt, G., Mauceli, E., Mewes, H., Mitterbauer, R., Muehlbauer, G., Munsterkotter, M., Nelson, D., O Donnell, K., Ouellet, T., Qi, W., Quesneville, H., Roncero, M.G., Seong, K., Tetko, I.V., Urban, M., Waalwijk, C., Ward, T.J., Yao, J., Birren, B.W., Kistler, H.C. 2007. The Fusarium graminearum genome reveals a link between localized polymorphism and pathogen specialization. Science. 317(5843):1400-1402.

Interpretive Summary: Fusarium graminearum is among the most economically important plant pathogens world wide and representative of the most destructive and widely studied genus of plant pathogenic fungi. In order to provide a comprehensive new resource for studying this group of toxigenic plant pathogens we sequenced and annotated the genome of F. graminearum. In addition, we compared this sequence to that of a second strain of F. graminearum, providing for the first analysis of genome wide diversity in this organism. A key finding of this study is that the genome contains regions of concentrated genetic diversity enriched for genes involved in plant interactions, indicating that the generation of diversity in plant-associated genes in adaptive. Another key finding is that the F. graminearum genome is nearly completely devoid of repetitive sequences, and that repeats are mutated by the process of repeat-induced point mutation (RIP), indicating that the evolution of diversity by gene duplication is highly constrained in this genome. This work will significantly impact nearly all research on F. graminearum by making available for the first time a comprehensive catalogue of genes and genomic variation within this important plant pathogen.

Technical Abstract: The filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum is a major destructive pathogen of cultivated cereals. We have sequenced and annotated the F. graminearum genome, and found it includes very few repetitive sequences. We experimentally demonstrate that repeats are mutated by the process of repeat-induced point mutation (RIP), previously shown only in a few other fungi. RIP may impact gene duplication and evolution in F. graminearum, as very few highly identical paralogous genes are observed. With sequence from a second strain, we identified ~10,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and found that discrete genomic regions, including all telomeres, are enriched for SNPs. Regions of high SNP frequency also display high divergence with other Fusarium species as well as high rates of recombination. Multiple sets of genes implicated in plant-fungus interactions are enriched in these high diversity regions, including predicted secreted proteins and genes specifically expressed in planta. The identification of these discrete regions of genome innovation provides a framework for understanding the evolution of F. graminearum related to interactions with its plant host.