Adaptive evolution in virulence effectors of the rice blast fungus Pyricularia oryzae.

ABSTRACT: Plant pathogens secrete proteins called effectors that target host cellular processes to promote disease. Recently, structural genomics has identified several families of fungal effectors that share a similar three-dimensional structure despite remarkably variable amino-acid sequences and surface properties. To explore the selective forces that underlie the sequence variability of structurally-analogous effectors, we focused on MAX effectors, a structural family of effectors that are major determinants of virulence in the rice blast fungus Pyricularia oryzae. Using structure-informed gene annotation, we identified 58 to 78 MAX effector genes per genome in a set of 120 isolates representing seven host-associated lineages. The expression of MAX effector genes was primarily restricted to the

SUBMITTER: Le Naour-Vernet M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10513199 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature