Comparative genome analysis and genome evolution of members of the magnaporthaceae family of fungi.

Background: Magnaporthaceae, a family of ascomycetes, includes three fungi of great economic importance that cause disease in cereal and turf grasses: Magnaporthe oryzae (rice blast), Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (take-all disease), and Magnaporthe poae (summer patch disease). Recently, the sequenced and assembled genomes for these three fungi were reported.

Accurate discrimination of bHLH domains in plants, animals, and fungi using biologically meaningful sites.

Background: The highly conserved bHLH (basic Helix-Loop-Helix) domain, found in many transcription factors, has been well characterized separately in Plants, Animals, and Fungi. While conserved, even functionally constrained sites have varied since the Eukarya split. Our research identifies those slightly variable sites that were highly characteristic of Plants, Animals, or Fungi.

Phylogenetic analysis and classification of the fungal bHLH domain.

The basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) domain is an essential highly conserved DNA-binding domain found in many transcription factors in all eukaryotic organisms. The bHLH domain has been well studied in the Animal and Plant Kingdoms but has yet to be characterized within Fungi. Herein, we obtained and evaluated the phylogenetic relationship of 490 fungal-specific bHLH containing proteins from 55 whole genome projects composed of 49 Ascomycota and 6 Basidiomycota organisms.