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Title: Genome sequences of three phytopathogenic species of the Magnaporthaceae family of fungi

Author
item OKAGAKI, LAUREN - North Carolina State University
item NUNES, CRISTIANO - North Carolina State University
item SAILSBERY, JOSHUA - North Carolina State University
item CLAY, BRENT - North Carolina State University
item BROWN, DOUG - North Carolina State University
item JOHN, TITUS - North Carolina State University
item OH, YEONYEE - North Carolina State University
item YOUNG, NELSON - University Of Massachusetts
item FITZGERALD, MIKE - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item HAAS, BRIAN - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item ZENG, QIANDONG - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item YOUNG, SARAH - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item ADICONIS, XIAN - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item LEVINE, JOSHUA - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item MITCHELL, THOMAS - The Ohio State University
item Okubara, Patricia
item FARMAN, MARK - University Of Kentucky
item KOHN, LINDA - University Of Toronto
item BIRREN, BRUCE - Broad Institute Of Mit/harvard
item MA, LI-JUN - University Of Massachusetts
item DEAN, RALPH - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/9/2015
Publication Date: 12/15/2015
Citation: Okagaki, L.H., Nunes, C.C., Sailsbery, J., Clay, B., Brown, D., John, T., Oh, Y., Young, N., Fitzgerald, M., Haas, B.J., Zeng, Q., Young, S., Adiconis, X., Levine, J., Mitchell, T.K., Okubara, P.A., Farman, M., Kohn, L., Birren, B., Ma, L., Dean, R.A. 2015. Genome sequences of three phytopathogenic species of the Magnaporthaceae family of fungi. Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 5(12):2539-2545.

Interpretive Summary: High throughput sequencing of the nuclear DNA of three related fungal pathogens that affect the grasses rice, wheat and turfgrass was carried out to compare gene and protein coding content, repeat DNA content and overall genome structure relatedness. Repeat DNAs are thought to be involved in adaptation of the organism to its environment. The rice pathogen had the fewest number of protein-coding genes and the largest percentage of repeat DNA, whereas the turfgrass pathogen had lowest proportion of repeat DNA, and the wheat pathogen had the highest number of protein-coding genes. The findings indicate that the foliar rice pathogen has a more streamlined genome and more potential for adaptation than the other two pathogens. Furthermore, the soilborne wheat and turfgrass pathogens shared more gene and genome structure similarities than either did with the foliar rice pathogen, indicating that the former two were more closely related.

Technical Abstract: Magnaporthaceae is a family of ascomycetes that includes three fungi of great economic importance: Magnaporthe oryzae, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, and Magnaporthe poae. These three fungi cause widespread disease and loss in cereal and grass crops, including rice blast disease (M. oryzae), take-all disease in wheat and other grasses (G. graminis), and summer patch disease in turf grasses (M. poae). Here, we present the finished genome sequence for M. oryzae and draft sequences for M. poae and G. graminis var. tritici. We used multiple technologies to sequence and annotate the genomes of M. oryzae, M. poae, and G. graminis var. tritici. The M. oryzae genome is now finished to seven chromosomes whereas M. poae and G. graminis var. tritici are sequenced to 40.0x and 25.0x·coverage respectively. Gene models were developed by the use of multiple computational techniques and further supported by RNAseq data. In addition, we performed preliminary analysis of genome architecture and repetitive element DNA.