Phenotypic diversification is associated with host-induced transposon derepression in the sudden oak death pathogen Phytophthora ramorum.

ABSTRACT: The oomycete pathogen Phytophthora ramorum is responsible for sudden oak death (SOD) in California coastal forests. P. ramorum is a generalist pathogen with over 100 known host species. Three or four closely related genotypes of P. ramorum (from a single lineage) were originally introduced in California forests and the pathogen reproduces clonally. Because of this the genetic diversity of P. ramorum is extremely low in Californian forests. However, P. ramorum shows diverse phenotypic variation in colony morphology, colony senescence, and virulence. In this study, we show that phenotypic variation among isolates is associated with the host species from which the microbe was originally cultured. Microarray global mRNA profiling detected derepression of transposable elements (TEs) and down-re

SUBMITTER: Kasuga T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3329494 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature