2 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Genome expansion and gene loss in powdery mildew fungi reveal tradeoffs in extreme parasitism
Powdery mildews are phytopathogens whose growth and reproduction are entirely dependent
on living plant cells. The molecular basis of this life-style, obligate biotrophy, remains unknown. We
present the genome analysis of barley powdery mildew, Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei (Blumeria), as well
as a comparison with the analysis of two powdery mildews pathogenic on dicotyledonous plants. These
genomes display massive retrotransposon proliferation, genome-size expansion, and gene losses. The
missing genes encode enzymes of primary and secondary metabolism, carbohydrate-active enzymes, and
transporters, probably reflecting their redundancy in an exclusively biotrophic life-style. Among the 248
candidate effectors of pathogenesis identified in the Blumeria genome, very few (less than 10) define a
core set conserved in all three mildews, suggesting thatmost effectors represent species-specific adaptations