Genome analysis of the necrotrophic fungal pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38–39 Mb genomes include 11,860–14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared t

Evidence for a Common Toolbox Based on Necrotrophy in a Fungal Lineage Spanning Necrotrophs, Biotrophs, Endophytes, Host Generalists and Specialists

The Sclerotiniaceae (Ascomycotina, Leotiomycetes) is a relatively recently evolved lineage of necrotrophic host generalists, and necrotrophic or biotrophic host specialists, some latent or symptomless. We hypothesized that they inherited a basic toolbox of genes for plant symbiosis from their common ancestor. Maintenance and evolutionary diversification of symbiosis could require selection on toolbox genes or on timing and magnitude of gene expression. The genes studied were chosen because their products have been previously investigated as pathogenicity factors in the Sclerotiniaceae. They encode proteins associated with cell wall degradation: acid protease 1 (acp1), aspartyl protease (asps), and polygalacturonases (pg1, pg3, pg5, pg6), and the oxalic acid (OA) pathway: a zinc finger transcription factor (pac1), and oxaloacetate acetylhydrolase (oah), catalyst in OA production, essential for full symptom production in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Site-specific likelihood analyses provided evidence for purifying selection in all 8 pathogenicity-related genes. Consistent with an evolutionary arms race model, positive selection was detected in 5 of 8 genes. Only generalists produced large, proliferating disease lesions on excised Arabidopsis thaliana leaves and oxalic acid by 72 hours in vitro. In planta expression of oah was 10–300 times greater among the necrotrophic host generalists than necrotrophic and biotrophic host specialists; pac1 was not differentially expressed. Ability to amplify 6/8 pathogenicity related genes and produce oxalic acid in all genera are consistent with the common toolbox hypothesis for this gene sample. That our data did not distinguish biotrophs from necrotrophs is consistent with 1) a common toolbox based on necrotrophy and 2) the most conservative interpretation of the 3-locus housekeeping gene phylogeny – a baseline of necrotrophy from which forms of biotrophy emerged at least twice. Early oah overexpression likely expands the host range of necrotrophic generalists in the Sclerotiniaceae, while specialists and biotrophs deploy oah, or other as-yet-unknown toolbox genes, differently

Genomic analysis of the necrotrophic fungal pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38-39 Mb genomes include 11,860-14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared to <1% of B. cinerea. The arsenal of genes associated with necrotrophic processes is similar between the species, including genes involved in plant cell wall degradation and oxalic acid production. Analysis of secondary metabolism gene clusters revealed an expansion in number and diversity of B. cinerea-specific secondary metabolites relative to S. sclerotiorum. The potential diversity in secondary metabolism might be involved in adaptation to specific ecological niches. Comparative genome analysis revealed the basis of differing sexual mating compatibility systems between S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea. The organization of the mating-type loci differs, and their structures provide evidence for the evolution of heterothallism from homothallism. These data shed light on the evolutionary and mechanistic bases of the genetically complex traits of necrotrophic pathogenicity and sexual mating. This resource should facilitate the functional studies designed to better understand what makes these fungi such successful and persistent pathogens of agronomic crops.The Sclerotinia sclerotiorum genome project was supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (USDA-NRI 2004). Sclerotinia sclerotiorum ESTs were funded by a grant to JA Rollins from USDA specific cooperative agreement 58-5442-4-281. The genome sequence of Botrytis cinerea strain T4 was funded by Genoscope, CEA, France. M Viaud was funded by the “Projet INRA Jeune-Equipe”. PM Coutinho and B Henrissat were funded by the ANR to project E-Tricel (grant ANR-07-BIOE-006). The CAZy database is funded in part by GIS-IBiSA. DM Soanes and NJ Talbot were partly funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. KM Plummer was partially funded by the New Zealand Bio-Protection Research Centre, http://bioprotection.org.nz/. BJ Howlett and A Sexton were partially funded by the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation, www.grdc.com.au. L Kohn was partially funded by NSERC Discovery Grant (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) - Grant number 458078. M Dickman was supported by the NSF grant MCB-092391 and BARD grant US-4041-07C. O Yarden was supported by BARD grant US-4041-07C. EG Danchin obtained financial support from the European Commission (STREP FungWall grant, contract: LSHB - CT- 2004 - 511952). A Botrytis Genome Workshop (Kaiserslautern, Germany) was supported by a grant from the German Science Foundation (DFG; HA1486) to M Hahn

Genomic Analysis of the Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38–39 Mb genomes include 11,860–14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared to <1% of B. cinerea. The arsenal of genes associated with necrotrophic processes is similar between the species, including genes involved in plant cell wall degradation and oxalic acid production. Analysis of secondary metabolism gene clusters revealed an expansion in number and diversity of B. cinerea–specific secondary metabolites relative to S. sclerotiorum. The potential diversity in secondary metabolism might be involved in adaptation to specific ecological niches. Comparative genome analysis revealed the basis of differing sexual mating compatibility systems between S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea. The organization of the mating-type loci differs, and their structures provide evidence for the evolution of heterothallism from homothallism. These data shed light on the evolutionary and mechanistic bases of the genetically complex traits of necrotrophic pathogenicity and sexual mating. This resource should facilitate the functional studies designed to better understand what makes these fungi such successful and persistent pathogens of agronomic crops

Mise à jour du catalogue des Anthribidae de l’île de la Réunion (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea)

Update to the catalogue of Anthribidae from Reunion Island (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea). Since the publication in year 2000 of the catalogue of the Anthribidae present on Reunion Island, 20 species of this family have been reported as new for this country. They are listed here.Depuis la parution en l’an 2000 de la liste des Anthribidae présents sur l’île de la Réunion, 20 espèces de cette famille nouvelles pour ce territoire ont été découvertes. Elles sont listées ici.Poussereau Jacques. Mise à jour du catalogue des Anthribidae de l’île de la Réunion (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 119 (1),2014. pp. 109-112

Mise à jour du catalogue des Anthribidae de l’île de la Réunion (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea)

Update to the catalogue of Anthribidae from Reunion Island (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea). Since the publication in year 2000 of the catalogue of the Anthribidae present on Reunion Island, 20 species of this family have been reported as new for this country. They are listed here.Depuis la parution en l’an 2000 de la liste des Anthribidae présents sur l’île de la Réunion, 20 espèces de cette famille nouvelles pour ce territoire ont été découvertes. Elles sont listées ici.Poussereau Jacques. Mise à jour du catalogue des Anthribidae de l’île de la Réunion (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 119 (1),2014. pp. 109-112

Données récentes ou nouvelles pour les Elatérides de la Réunion (Col. Elateridae)

Poussereau Jacques. Données récentes ou nouvelles pour les Elatérides de la Réunion (Col. Elateridae). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 111 (1), mars 2006. p. 122

Données récentes ou nouvelles pour les Elatérides de la Réunion (Col. Elateridae)

Poussereau Jacques. Données récentes ou nouvelles pour les Elatérides de la Réunion (Col. Elateridae). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 111 (1), mars 2006. p. 122

Quelques Ténébrionides nouveaux pour tes îles de la Réunion et des Comores (Coleoptera)

Some Tenebrionids new for the Réunion and Comoro islands fauna (Coleoptera). Eleven new records of Coleoptera Tenebrionidae for the fauna of the island of the Réunion and one for the Comoro islands are given.Onze espèces de Coléoptères Ténébrionides nouvelles pour la faune de la Réunion et une pour la faune des Comores sont citées.Poussereau Jacques, Ferrer Julio. Quelques Ténébrionides nouveaux pour tes îles de la Réunion et des Comores (Coleoptera). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 112 (1), mars 2007. pp. 89-91

Quelques Ténébrionides nouveaux pour tes îles de la Réunion et des Comores (Coleoptera)

Some Tenebrionids new for the Réunion and Comoro islands fauna (Coleoptera). Eleven new records of Coleoptera Tenebrionidae for the fauna of the island of the Réunion and one for the Comoro islands are given.Onze espèces de Coléoptères Ténébrionides nouvelles pour la faune de la Réunion et une pour la faune des Comores sont citées.Poussereau Jacques, Ferrer Julio. Quelques Ténébrionides nouveaux pour tes îles de la Réunion et des Comores (Coleoptera). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 112 (1), mars 2007. pp. 89-91