Transposable Elements Contribute to Genome Dynamics and Gene Expression Variation in the Fungal Plant Pathogen Verticillium dahliae.

ABSTRACT: Transposable elements (TEs) are a major source of genetic and regulatory variation in their host genome and are consequently thought to play important roles in evolution. Many fungal and oomycete plant pathogens have evolved dynamic and TE-rich genomic regions containing genes that are implicated in host colonization and adaptation. TEs embedded in these regions have typically been thought to accelerate the evolution of these genomic compartments, but little is known about their dynamics in strains that harbor them. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing data of 42 strains of the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae to systematically identify polymorphic TEs that may be implicated in genomic as well as in gene expression variation. We identified 2,523 TE polymorphisms and characterize

SUBMITTER: Torres DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8290119 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature