Evidence for the dispersal of a unique lineage from Asia to America and Africa in the sugarcane fungal pathogen Ustilago scitaminea

Global Distribution and Evolution of a Toxinogenic Burkholderia-Rhizopus Symbiosis

“…The endosymbiont-dependent sporulation of the host strain indicates that the fungus-bacterium interaction is highly specialized. Furthermore, vertical transmission of the symbionts through spores is an efficient strategy for rapid distribution (4,20). Nonetheless, our data suggest that the horizontal transmission of symbionts might also have played a role during the evolution of the endofungal bacteria.…”

Multiple introductions of divergent genetic lineages in an invasive fungal pathogen, Cryphonectria parasitica, in France

“…In particular, multiple introductions may favour admixture of genetic pools from original genetically differentiated populations and allow the emergence of new genotypes that may be well adapted to the new habitat (for example Facon et al, 2005;Lavergne and Molofsky, 2007). In fungal plant pathogens, several examples of multiple introductions have been reported (for example Stukenbrock et al, 2006;Delmotte et al, 2008;Goss et al, 2009), but successful invasions would have also occurred from single clonal lineages (for example Goodwin et al, 1994;Engelbrecht et al, 2004;Raboin et al, 2007). Finally, the number of studies clearly documenting the history of introduction (that is number of introductions, introduced genetic diversity and evolutionary processes) is too low to evaluate the statement: 'multiple introductions is the rule rather than the exception' as has been proposed for plant species (Novak, 2007).…”

Assessment of genetic diversity and structure of Sporisorium scitamineum from China using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers

“…In 1877, it was first reported in Natal during the early days of sugarcane smut in South Africa and now presented in most of the sugarcane-producing areas of the world (Santiago et al, 2009). Only Papua New Guinea is considered as the origin center for Saccharum officinarum and is the main species involved in modern cultivars, and Fiji Islands are still free of this disease (Raboin et al, 2007). Sugarcane smut was first reported in 1932 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China (Antoine, 1961).…”

“…The investigation of the genetic diversity of S. scitamineum through the use of DNA molecular fingerprinting techniques is extremely important for a better understanding of the structure of pathogen populations and the interactions among host and pathogen and the environment and as a basis for developing smut-resistant sugarcane varieties. During the past ten years, several studies on genetic diversity of S. scitamineum were conducted in Australia (Braithwaite et al, 2004), France (Raboin et al, 2007) and China (Que et al, 2012;Shen et al, 2012a;Xu et al, 2014). Raboin et al (2007) analyzed a collection of S. scitamineum populations from 15 sugarcane-producing countries for polymorphisms at 17 microsatellite loci.…”

“…During the past ten years, several studies on genetic diversity of S. scitamineum were conducted in Australia (Braithwaite et al, 2004), France (Raboin et al, 2007) and China (Que et al, 2012;Shen et al, 2012a;Xu et al, 2014). Raboin et al (2007) analyzed a collection of S. scitamineum populations from 15 sugarcane-producing countries for polymorphisms at 17 microsatellite loci. The report showed that the genetic diversity was extremely low among the American and African populations, and high among the Asian populations, particularly those from the Philippines.…”