Genome sequence and effectorome of Moniliophthora perniciosa and Moniliophthora roreri subpopulations

• Published in: BMC genomics Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 509
• Main Authors: Barbosa, Ceslaine Santos, Fonseca, Rute R da, Batista, Thiago Mafra, Barreto, Mariana Araújo, Argolo, Caio Suzart, Carvalho, Mariana Rocha de, Amaral, Daniel Oliveira Jordão do, Silva, Edson Mário de Andrade, Arévalo-Gardini, Enrique, Hidalgo, Karina Solis, Franco, Glória Regina, Pirovani, Carlos Priminho, Micheli, Fabienne, Gramacho, Karina Peres
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 03-07-2018; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Agaricales - classification; Agaricales - genetics; Agaricales - isolation & purification; Biodegradation; Bioinformatics; Brazil; Cacao - microbiology; Cell walls; Chromosomes; DNA sequencing; DNA, Fungal - chemistry; DNA, Fungal - isolation & purification; DNA, Fungal - metabolism; Effectors; Environmental degradation; Flowers & plants; Frosty pod rot; Fungal Proteins - genetics; Fungi; Gangrene; Genetic engineering; Genome, Fungal; Genomes; Genomics; Host range; Infections; Localization; Malvaceae; Moniliophthora perniciosa; Moniliophthora roreri; Nucleotide sequence; Nucleotide sequencing; Oxidative stress; Pathogenesis; Pathogenicity; Pathogenicity factors; Pathogens; Phylogeny; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant pathogens; Plant tissues; Pod rot; Proteins; Solanaceae; Statistical methods; Subpopulations; Theobroma; Theobroma cacao; Whole Genome Sequencing; Witches' broom; Brazil; Pathogenicity factors; Witches’ broom; Frosty pod rot; Plant pathogens; Theobroma cacao
• ISSN: 1471-2164; 1471-2164
• DOI: 10.1186/s12864-018-4875-7

The hemibiotrophic pathogens Moniliophthora perniciosa (witches' broom disease) and Moniliophthora roreri (frosty pod rot disease) are among the most important pathogens of cacao. Moniliophthora perniciosa has a broad host range and infects a variety of meristematic tissues in cacao plants, whereas M. roreri infects only pods of Theobroma and Herrania genera. Comparative pathogenomics of these fungi is essential to understand Moniliophthora infection strategies, therefore the detection and in silico functional characterization of effector candidates are important steps to gain insight on their pathogenicity.
Candidate secreted effector proteins repertoire were predicted using the genomes of five representative isolates of M. perniciosa subpopulations (three from cacao and two from solanaceous hosts), and one representative isolate of M. roreri from Peru. Many putative effectors candidates were identified in M. perniciosa: 157 and 134 in cacao isolates from Bahia, Brazil; 109 in cacao isolate from Ecuador, 92 and 80 in wild solanaceous isolates from Minas Gerais (Lobeira) and Bahia (Caiçara), Brazil; respectively. Moniliophthora roreri showed the highest number of effector candidates, a total of 243. A set of eight core effectors were shared among all Moniliophthora isolates, while others were shared either between the wild solanaceous isolates or among cacao isolates. Mostly, candidate effectors of M. perniciosa were shared among the isolates, whereas in M. roreri nearly 50% were exclusive to the specie. In addition, a large number of cell wall-degrading enzymes characteristic of hemibiotrophic fungi were found. From these, we highlighted the proteins involved in cell wall modification, an enzymatic arsenal that allows the plant pathogens to inhabit environments with oxidative stress, which promotes degradation of plant compounds and facilitates infection.
The present work reports six genomes and provides a database of the putative effectorome of Moniliophthora, a first step towards the understanding of the functional basis of fungal pathogenicity.