The caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, genome provides insights into highland adaptation of fungal pathogenicity.

ABSTRACT: To understand the potential genetic basis of highland adaptation of fungal pathogenicity, we present here the ~116 Mb de novo assembled high-quality genome of Ophiocordyceps sinensis endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Compared with other plain-dwelling fungi, we find about 3.4-fold inflation of the O. sinensis genome due to a rapid amplification of long terminal repeat retrotransposons that occurred ~38 million years ago in concert with the uplift of the plateau. We also observe massive removal of thousands of genes related to the transport process and energy metabolism. O. sinensis displays considerable lineage-specific expansion of gene families functionally enriched in the adaptability of low-temperature of cold tolerance, fungal pathogenicity and specialized host infection. We det

SUBMITTER: Xia EH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5432009 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature