Extraordinary genome instability and widespread chromosome rearrangements during vegetative growth

Stukenbrock, Eva H.; Möller, Mareike; Habig, Michael; Freitag, Michael

doi:10.1101/304915

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This may have caused microclimatic differences between the two replicates and such differences are known to affect infection success of Z. tritici (Shaw, ). The fungal inoculum was grown from the same batch and prepared with the same protocol in both replicates, but the fungus is capable of rapidly accumulating genetic changes through mitotic events (Möller et al ., ) and this may have contributed to the difference in the estimates of infection efficiency.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 72%

Measurement of infection efficiency of a major wheat pathogen using time‐resolved imaging of disease progress

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Infection efficiency is a key epidemiological parameter that determines the proportion of pathogen spores able to infect and cause lesions once they have landed on a susceptible plant tissue. In this study, an improved method to measure infection efficiency of Zymoseptoria tritici using a replicated greenhouse experiment is presented. Zymoseptoria tritici is a fungal pathogen that infects wheat leaves and causes septoria tritici blotch (STB), a major disease of wheat worldwide. A novel experimental setup was devised, where living wheat leaves were attached to metal plates, allowing for time‐resolved imaging of disease progress in planta. Because lesions were continuously appearing, expanding and merging during the period of up to 3 weeks, daily measurements were necessary for accurate counting of lesions. Reference membranes were also used to characterize the density and spatial distribution of spores inoculated onto leaf surfaces. In this way, the relationship between the number of lesions and the number of viable spores deposited on the leaves was captured and an infection efficiency of about 4% was estimated from the slope of this relationship. This study provides a proof of principle for accurate and reliable measurement of infection efficiency of Z. tritici. The method opens opportunities for determining the genetic basis of the component of quantitative resistance that suppresses infection efficiency. This knowledge would improve breeding for quantitative resistance against STB, a control measure considered more durable than deployment of major resistance genes.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 72%

Measurement of infection efficiency of a major wheat pathogen using time‐resolved imaging of disease progress

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…) compared to the IPO323 reference genome. Such spontaneous genetic changes were previously reported to occur at an elevated frequency in Z. tritici during in vitro propagation (Möller et al , ). WC‐1 together with WC‐2 composes the White Collar complex (WCC) and acts as a transcription factor whose activity is regulated by light (Corrochano, ; He et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

The transcription factor Zt107320 affects the dimorphic switch, growth and virulence of the fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici

Habig

Bahena-Garrido

Barkmann

et al. 2019

Molecular Plant Pathology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Zymoseptoria tritici is a filamentous fungus causing Septoria tritici blotch in wheat. The pathogen has a narrow host range and infections of grasses other than susceptible wheat are blocked early after stomatal penetration. During these abortive infections, the fungus shows a markedly different gene expression pattern. However, the underlying mechanisms causing differential gene expression during host and non‐host interactions are largely unknown, but likely include transcriptional regulators responsible for the onset of an infection programme in compatible hosts. MoCOD1, a member of the fungal Zn(II)2Cys6 transcription factor family, has been shown to directly affect pathogenicity in the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. Here, we analyse the role of the putative transcription factor Zt107320, a homologue of MoCOD1, during infection of compatible and incompatible hosts by Z. tritici. We show for the first time that Zt107320 is differentially expressed in host versus non‐host infections and that lower expression corresponds to an incompatible infection of non‐hosts. Applying reverse genetics approaches, we further show that Zt107320 regulates the dimorphic switch as well as the growth rate of Z. tritici and affects fungal cell wall composition in vitro. Moreover, ∆Zt107320 mutants showed reduced virulence during compatible infections of wheat. We conclude that Zt107320 directly influences pathogen fitness and propose that Zt107320 is involved in the regulation of growth processes and pathogenicity during infection.

show abstract

“…). In addition, the extreme chromosome dynamic was supposed to be a conserved phenomenon in the genus Zymoseptoria (Möller et al ., ). Although the mechanism underlying the formation of these diverse CDCs in Alternaria species is largely unknown, our sequencing data demonstrated that the Z7 CDC 1 contains all but one contig of Z7 CDC 2, providing evidence that duplication can be one factor that drives chromosomal rearrangements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Genomic features and evolution of the conditionally dispensable chromosome in the tangerine pathotype of Alternaria alternata

Wang

Shen

et al. 2019

Molecular Plant Pathology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary The tangerine pathotype of the ascomycete fungus Alternaria alternata is the causal agent of citrus brown spot, which can result in significant losses of both yield and marketability for tangerines worldwide. A conditionally dispensable chromosome (CDC), which harbours the host‐selective ACT toxin gene cluster, is required for tangerine pathogenicity of A. alternata. To understand the genetic makeup and evolution of the tangerine pathotype CDC, we isolated and sequenced the CDCs of the A. alternata Z7 strain and analysed the function and evolution of their genes. The A. alternata Z7 strain has two CDCs (~1.1 and ~0.8 Mb, respectively), and the longer Z7 CDC contains all but one contig of the shorter one. Z7 CDCs contain 254 predicted protein‐coding genes, which are enriched in functional categories associated with ‘metabolic process’ (55 genes, P = 0.037). Relatively few of the CDC genes can be classified as carbohydrate‐active enzymes (CAZymes) (4) and transporters (19) and none as kinases. Evolutionary analysis of the 254 CDC proteins showed that their evolutionary conservation tends to be restricted within the genus Alternaria and that the CDC genes evolve faster than genes in the essential chromosomes, likely due to fewer selective constraints. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis suggested that four of the 25 genes responsible for the ACT toxin production were likely transferred from Colletotrichum (Sordariomycetes). Functional experiments showed that two of them are essential for the virulence of the tangerine pathotype of A. alternata. These results provide new insights into the function and evolution of CDC genes in Alternaria.

show abstract

Extraordinary genome instability and widespread chromosome rearrangements during vegetative growth

Cited by 13 publications

References 63 publications

Measurement of infection efficiency of a major wheat pathogen using time‐resolved imaging of disease progress

Measurement of infection efficiency of a major wheat pathogen using time‐resolved imaging of disease progress

The transcription factor Zt107320 affects the dimorphic switch, growth and virulence of the fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici

Genomic features and evolution of the conditionally dispensable chromosome in the tangerine pathotype of Alternaria alternata

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About