Austropuccinia psidii, causing myrtle rust, has a gigabase-sized genome shaped by transposable elements.

ABSTRACT: Austropuccinia psidii, originating in South America, is a globally invasive fungal plant pathogen that causes rust disease on Myrtaceae. Several biotypes are recognized, with the most widely distributed pandemic biotype spreading throughout the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions over the last decade. Austropuccinia psidii has a broad host range with more than 480 myrtaceous species. Since first detected in Australia in 2010, the pathogen has caused the near extinction of at least three species and negatively affected commercial production of several Myrtaceae. To enable molecular and evolutionary studies into A. psidii pathogenicity, we assembled a highly contiguous genome for the pandemic biotype. With an estimated haploid genome size of just over 1 Gb (gigabases), it is the largest assembl

SUBMITTER: Tobias PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8063080 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature