The Fusarium graminearum Genome Reveals a Link Between Localized Polymorphism and Pathogen Specialization
Abstract
We sequenced and annotated the genome of the filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum, a major pathogen of cultivated cereals. Very few repetitive sequences were detected, and the process of repeat-induced point mutation, in which duplicated sequences are subject to extensive mutation, may partially account for the reduced repeat content and apparent low number of paralogous (ancestrally duplicated) genes. A second strain of F. graminearum contained more than 10,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which were frequently located near telomeres and within other discrete chromosomal segments. Many highly polymorphic regions contained sets of genes implicated in plant-fungus interactions and were unusually divergent, with higher rates of recombination. These regions of genome innovation may result from selection due to interactions of F. graminearum with its plant hosts.
- Publication:
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Science
- Pub Date:
- September 2007
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1143708
- Bibcode:
- 2007Sci...317.1400C
- Keywords:
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- Genetics