Environmental Microbiology (2021) 23, 6004-6018

Pamela Gan, Ryoko Hiroyama, Ayako Tsushima, Sachiko Masuda, Arisa Shibata, Akiko Ueno, Naoyoshi Kumakura, Mari Narusaka, Trinh Xuan Hoat, Yoshihiro Narusaka, Yoshitaka Takano and Ken Shirasu (2021)
Telomeres and a repeat-rich chromosome encode effector gene clusters in plant pathogenic Colletotrichum fungi
Environmental Microbiology 23 (10), 6004-6018
Abstract: Members of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex are causal agents of anthracnose in many commercially important plants. Closely related strains have different levels of pathogenicity on hosts despite their close phylogenetic relationship. To gain insight into the genetics underlying these differences, we generated and annotated whole-genome assemblies of multiple isolates of C. fructicola (Cf) and C. siamense (Cs), as well as three previously unsequenced species, C. aenigma (Ca), C. tropicale and C. viniferum with different pathogenicity on strawberry. Based on comparative genomics, we identified accessory regions with a high degree of conservation in strawberry-pathogenic Cf, Cs and Ca strains. These regions encode homologs of pathogenicity-related genes known as effectors, organized in syntenic gene clusters, with copy number variations in different strains of Cf, Cs and Ca. Analysis of highly contiguous assemblies of Cf, Cs and Ca revealed the association of related accessory effector gene clusters with telomeres and repeat-rich chromosomes and provided evidence of exchange between these two genomic compartments. In addition, expression analysis indicated that orthologues in syntenic gene clusters showed a tendency for correlated gene expression during infection. These data provide insight into mechanisms by which Colletotrichum genomes evolve, acquire and organize effectors.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Trinh Xuan Hoat, Yoshitaka Takano, Ken Shirasu

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Colletotrichum fructicola	Strawberry (Fragaria)	Japan
	Colletotrichum siamense	Strawberry (Fragaria)	Japan
	Colletotrichum aenigma	Strawberry (Fragaria)	Japan
	Colletotrichum tropicale		Japan
	Colletotrichum viniferum		Japan