Increased Pathogenicity of the Nematophagous Fungus Drechmeria coniospora Following Long-Term Laboratory Culture.

ABSTRACT: Domestication provides a window into adaptive change. Over the course of 2 decades of laboratory culture, a strain of the nematode-specific fungus Drechmeria coniospora became more virulent during its infection of Caenorhabditis elegans. Through a close comparative examination of the genome sequences of the original strain and its more pathogenic derivative, we identified a small number of non-synonymous mutations in protein-coding genes. In one case, the mutation was predicted to affect a gene involved in hypoxia resistance and we provide direct corroborative evidence for such an effect. The mutated genes with functional annotation were all predicted to impact the general physiology of the fungus and this was reflected in an increased in vitro growth, even in the abse

SUBMITTER: Courtine D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10512298 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature