The Wheat Powdery Mildew Genome Shows the Unique Evolution of an Obligate Biotroph

Overview

Journal Nat Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2013 Jul 16

PMID 23852167

Citations 101

Authors

Thomas Wicker

Simone Oberhaensli

Francis Parlange

Jan P Buchmann

Margarita Shatalina

Stefan Roffler

Roi Ben-David

Jaroslav Dolezel

Hana Simkova

Paul Schulze-Lefert

Pietro D Spanu

Remy Bruggmann

Joelle Amselem

Hadi Quesneville

Emiel Ver Loren van Themaat

Timothy Paape

Kentaro K Shimizu

Beat Keller

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Wheat powdery mildew, Blumeria graminis forma specialis tritici, is a devastating fungal pathogen with a poorly understood evolutionary history. Here we report the draft genome sequence of wheat powdery mildew, the resequencing of three additional isolates from different geographic regions and comparative analyses with the barley powdery mildew genome. Our comparative genomic analyses identified 602 candidate effector genes, with many showing evidence of positive selection. We characterize patterns of genetic diversity and suggest that mildew genomes are mosaics of ancient haplogroups that existed before wheat domestication. The patterns of diversity in modern isolates suggest that there was no pronounced loss of genetic diversity upon formation of the new host bread wheat 10,000 years ago. We conclude that the ready adaptation of B. graminis f.sp. tritici to the new host species was based on a diverse haplotype pool that provided great genetic potential for pathogen variation.

Citing Articles

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