Global genomic analyses of wheat powdery mildew reveal association of pathogen spread with historical human migration and trade

The fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici causes wheat powdery mildew disease. Here, we study its spread and evolution by analyzing a global sample of 172 mildew genomes. Our analyses show that B.g. tritici emerged in the Fertile Crescent during wheat domestication. After it spread throughout Eurasia, colonization brought it to America, where it hybridized with unknown grass mildew species. Recent trade brought USA strains to Japan, and European strains to China. In both places, they hybridized with local ancestral strains. Thus, although mildew spreads by wind regionally, our results indicate that humans drove its global spread throughout history and that mildew rapidly evolved through hybridization

Interaction between rabbit muscle actin and several chaetoglobosins or cytochalasins

The mold metabolites chaetoglobosins Ch-A, B, C, E, F, and J exert, as do the cytochalasins CB, CD, CE, and CG, enhancing effects of various strength on the polymerization of rabbit muscle G-actin. The polymers formed differ widely in their viscosity, Ch-B and Ch-J leading to the least viscous actins. Equal states of viscosity are arrived at by interaction of F-actin with the respective drugs. There is no correlation between the ATP hydrolyzing activity of F-actin elicited by the various cytochalasins and their influence on the viscosity