Genome-wide Evidence of Host Specialization in Wild and Farmland Populations of the Fungal Leaf Spot Pathogen, Cercospora beticola.

ABSTRACT: One of the most recent crop species to be domesticated is sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris Doell.), which was bred for high sucrose content within the last few centuries in Europe. Crop domestication can also lead to the evolution of novel pathogens, which may spread across large geographical distances with their crop host. In this study, we addressed the recent evolution of the fungal pathogen causing the disease Cercospora leaf spot, Cercospora beticola. This pathogen has become increasingly important in sugar beet and table beet production worldwide. We used genome sequences of 326 C. beticola isolates collected from 4 continents from 4 closely related Beta subspecies (3 domesticated and 1 wild). We applied population genomic analyses to identify signatures of population diffe

SUBMITTER: Taliadoros D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12034460 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature