Gene transfer between fungal species triggers repeated coffee wilt disease outbreaks.

Two outbreaks of coffee wilt disease have devastated African coffee production. A PLOS Biology study suggests that horizontal gene transfer via large Starship transposons between 2 fungal species played a key role in the repeated emergence of the disease.

Sporothrix and Sporotrichosis: A South African Perspective on a Growing Global Health Threat.

Sporotrichosis is a disease that arises from a fungal infection caused by members of the Ascomycete genus Sporothrix. The disease has a unique history in South Africa, due to an association with gold mines, where large numbers of mine workers were infected in the 1930s and 1940s. This was likely driven by hot humid conditions and timber supports used in these mine shafts.

Six type-I PKS classes and highly conserved melanin and elsinochrome gene clusters found in diverse Elsinoë species.

Elsinoë species are phytopathogenic fungi that cause serious scab diseases on economically important plants. The disease symptoms arise from the effects of a group of phytotoxins known as elsinochromes, produced via a type-I polyketide synthase (PKS) biosynthetic pathway. The elsinochrome gene cluster was first annotated in Elsinoë fawcettii where the main type-I PKS gene was characterized as EfPKS1.

Diversity of Calonectria species from leaves and soils in diseased southern China Eucalyptus plantation.

Calonectria leaf blight (CLB) is one of the best-known diseases of Eucalyptus spp., particularly in Asia and South America. Recently, typical symptoms of leaf and shoot blight caused by Calonectria spp.

IMA Genome - F19 : A genome assembly and annotation guide to empower mycologists, including annotated draft genome sequences of Ceratocystis pirilliformis, Diaporthe australafricana, Fusarium ophioides, Paecilomyces lecythidis, and Sporothrix stenoceras.

The pace at which Next Generation Sequence data is being produced continues to accelerate as technology improves. As a result, such data are increasingly becoming accessible to biologists outside of the field of bioinformatics. In contrast, access to training in the methods of genome assembly and annotation are not growing at a similar rate.

Sex Pheromone Receptor Ste2 Orchestrates Chemotropic Growth towards Pine Root Extracts in the Pitch Canker Pathogen .

In ascomycetous fungi, sexual mate recognition requires interaction of the Ste2 receptor protein produced by one partner with the α-factor peptide pheromone produced by the other partner. In some fungi, Ste2 is further needed for chemotropism towards plant roots to allow for subsequent infection and colonization. Here, we investigated whether this is also true for the pine pitch canker fungus, , which is a devastating pathogen of pine globally.

Correction: Hough et al. Fungal Viruses Unveiled: A Comprehensive Review of Mycoviruses. 2023, , 1202.

In the original publication [...

LAMP Assay to Detect , an Important Shoot and Leaf Pathogen.

Eucalyptus scab and shoot malformation caused by is an emerging disease and a serious threat to the global commercial forestry industry. The disease was first discovered in North Sumatra, Indonesia, and now requires a simple and effective method for early pathogen detection. In this study, a rapid and sensitive loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for .

Characterization of the Fusarium circinatum biofilm environmental response role.

The capacity to form biofilms is a common trait among many microorganisms present on Earth. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that the fatal pine pitch canker agent, Fusarium circinatum, can lead a biofilm-like lifestyle with aggregated hyphal bundles wrapped in extracellular matrix (ECM). Our research shows F.

Chromosome-Level Assemblies for the Pine Pitch Canker Pathogen .

The pine pitch canker pathogen, , is globally regarded as one of the most important threats to commercial pine-based forestry. Although genome sequences of this fungus are available, these remain highly fragmented or structurally ill-defined. Our overall goal was to provide high-quality assemblies for two notable strains of , and to characterize these in terms of coding content, repetitiveness and the position of telomeres and centromeres.

Unidirectional mating-type switching is underpinned by a conserved MAT1 locus architecture.

Unidirectional mating-type switching is a form of homothallic reproduction known only in a small number of filamentous ascomycetes. Their ascospores can give rise to either self-sterile isolates that require compatible partners for subsequent sexual reproduction, or self-fertile individuals capable of completing this process in isolation. The limited studies previously conducted in these fungi suggest that the differences in mating specificity are determined by the architecture of the MAT1 locus.

Two distinct non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-independent siderophore synthetase gene clusters identified in Armillaria and other species in the Physalacriaceae.

Siderophores are important for ferric iron solubilization, sequestration, transportation, and storage, especially under iron-limiting conditions such as aerobic conditions at high pH. Siderophores are mainly produced by non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-dependent siderophore pathway, non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-independent siderophore synthetase pathway, or the hybrid non-ribosomal peptide synthetases/non-ribosomal peptide synthetases-independent siderophore pathway. Outcompeting or inhibition of plant pathogens, alteration of host defense mechanisms, and alteration of plant-fungal interactions have been associated with fungal siderophores.

Needles in fungal haystacks: Discovery of a putative a-factor pheromone and a unique mating strategy in the Leotiomycetes.

The Leotiomycetes is a hugely diverse group of fungi, accommodating a wide variety of important plant and animal pathogens, ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, as well as producers of antibiotics. Despite their importance, the genetics of these fungi remain relatively understudied, particularly as they don't include model taxa. For example, sexual reproduction and the genetic mechanisms that underly this process are poorly understood in the Leotiomycetes.

A practical approach to genome assembly and annotation of Basidiomycota using the example of .

Technological advancements in genome sequencing, assembly and annotation platforms and algorithms that resulted in several genomic studies have created an opportunity to further our understanding of the biology of phytopathogens, including species. Most species are facultative necrotrophs that cause root- and stem-rot, usually on woody plants, significantly impacting agriculture and forestry worldwide. Genome sequencing, assembly and annotation in terms of samples used and methods applied in genome projects are evaluated in this review.

Evidence of Biparental Mitochondrial Inheritance from Self-Fertile Crosses between Closely Related Species of .

Hybridization is recognized as a notable driver of evolution and adaptation, which closely related species may exploit in the form of incomplete reproductive barriers. Three closely related species of (i.e.

Fungal Viruses Unveiled: A Comprehensive Review of Mycoviruses.

Mycoviruses (viruses of fungi) are ubiquitous throughout the fungal kingdom and are currently classified into 23 viral families and the genus by the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The primary focus of mycoviral research has been on mycoviruses that infect plant pathogenic fungi, due to the ability of some to reduce the virulence of their host and thus act as potential biocontrol against these fungi. However, mycoviruses lack extracellular transmission mechanisms and rely on intercellular transmission through the hyphal anastomosis, which impedes successful transmission between different fungal strains.

An in Silico Approach to Identifying TF Binding Sites: Analysis of the Regulatory Regions of BUSCO Genes from Fungal Species in the Family.

Transcriptional regulation controls gene expression through regulatory promoter regions that contain conserved sequence motifs. These motifs, also known as regulatory elements, are critically important to expression, which is driving research efforts to identify and characterize them. Yeasts have been the focus of such studies in fungi, including in several in silico approaches.

A LAMP Assay for Rapid Detection of the Pitch Canker Pathogen .

The pine pitch canker pathogen is endemic in the southeastern United States and Central America and represents an invasive threat globally. This ecologically adaptable fungus readily infects all parts of its pine hosts, leading to widespread mortality of nursery seedlings and decline in the health and productivity of forest stands. Because trees infected by can remain asymptomatic for long periods of time, accurate and rapid tools are needed for real-time diagnostics and surveillance at ports, in nurseries, and in plantations.

Identification and Characterization of a QTL for Growth of on Pine-Based Medium.

is an economically important pathogen of pine and resides in the species complex. Here we investigated the molecular processes underlying growth in by exploring the association between growth and the nutritional environment provided by the pine host. For this purpose, we subjected a mapping population consisting of X hybrid progeny to an analysis of growth rate on a pine-tissue derived medium.