Project description:Seedlings grown from seeds from open-pollinated mother trees of genotype UF12 were grown and at two months of age used to analyze response to treatment with the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum theobromicola and the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora palmivora.
Project description:Deep sequencing of small RNAs from three Phytophthora species, P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae, was done to systematically analyze small RNA-generating components of Phytophthora genomes. We found that each species produces two distinct small RNA populations that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. We present evidence that 25-nucleotide small RNAs are short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. In contrast, 21-nucleotide small RNAs are associated with inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family, and may function at the post-transcriptional level. Phytophthora infestans mycelium small RNAs were sequenced and aligned to the P. infestans genome for analysis.