Comparative Genomics of Sibling Fungal Pathogenic Taxa Identifies Adaptive Evolution without Divergence in Pathogenicity Genes or Genomic Structure.

ABSTRACT: It has been estimated that the sister plant pathogenic fungal species Heterobasidion irregulare and Heterobasidion annosum may have been allopatrically isolated for 34-41 Myr. They are now sympatric due to the introduction of the first species from North America into Italy, where they freely hybridize. We used a comparative genomic approach to 1) confirm that the two species are distinct at the genomic level; 2) determine which gene groups have diverged the most and the least between species; 3) show that their overall genomic structures are similar, as predicted by the viability of hybrids, and identify genomic regions that instead are incongruent; and 4) test the previously formulated hypothesis that genes involved in pathogenicity may be less divergent between the two species than genes

SUBMITTER: Sillo F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4700942 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature