Cause and Effectors: Whole-Genome Comparisons Reveal Shared but Rapidly Evolving Effector Sets among Host-Specific Plant-Castrating Fungi.

ABSTRACT: Plant pathogens utilize a portfolio of secreted effectors to successfully infect and manipulate their hosts. It is, however, still unclear whether changes in secretomes leading to host specialization involve mostly effector gene gains/losses or changes in their sequences. To test these hypotheses, we compared the secretomes of three host-specific castrating anther smut fungi (Microbotryum), two being sister species. To address within-species evolution, which might involve coevolution and local adaptation, we compared the secretomes of strains from differentiated populations. We experimentally validated a subset of signal peptides. Secretomes ranged from 321 to 445 predicted secreted proteins (SPs), including a few species-specific proteins (42 to 75), and limited copy number variati

SUBMITTER: Beckerson WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6831777 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature