Host adaptation and genome evolution of the broad host range fungal rust pathogen, Austropuccinia psidii.

ABSTRACT: Rust diseases on plants are caused by fungi in the order Pucciniales. Typically, rust fungi have narrow host specificity however the pandemic biotype of Austropuccinia psidii has an unusually broad host range causing disease on over 480 myrtaceous species globally. We assembled and analyzed a fully phased chromosome-level genome for the pandemic A. psidii and addressed key outstanding questions of its infection biology. Our research revealed a conserved rust fungal karyotype of 18 haploid chromosomes, in line with fungi for distantly related cereal rusts. We observed chromosomal re-assortment between the 2 nuclei, with one nucleus carrying 19 and the other 17 chromosomes. The synteny of universal single-copy orthologs is mostly maintained with the distantly related rust fungus Puccinia gra

SUBMITTER: Luo Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12774611 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature