Comparative Genome Analysis Reveals Adaptation to the Ectophytic Lifestyle of Sooty Blotch and Flyspeck Fungi.

ABSTRACT: Sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungi are a distinctive group of plant pathogens which, although phylogenetically diverse, occupy an exclusively surface-dwelling niche. They cause economic losses by superficially blemishing the fruit of several tree crops, principally apple, in moist temperate regions worldwide. In this study, we performed genome-wide comparative analyses separately within three pairs of species of ascomycete pathogens; each pair contained an SBFS species as well as a closely related but plant-penetrating parasite (PPP) species. Our results showed that all three of the SBFS pathogens had significantly smaller genome sizes, gene numbers and repeat ratios than their counterpart PPPs. The pathogenicity-related genes encoding MFS transporters, secreted proteins (mainly effect

SUBMITTER: Xu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5737583 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature