Elucidating the Obligate Nature and Biological Capacity of an Invasive Fungal Corn Pathogen

• DOI: 10.1094/mpmi-10-22-0213-r
• Publication Date: 2023-02-28T15:20:16Z
• Authors: Joshua S. MacCready; Emily M. Roggenkamp; Kristi Gdanetz; Martin I. Chilvers
• Keywords: Obligate; Ustilago

Tar spot is a devasting corn disease caused by the obligate fungal pathogen Phyllachora maydis. Since its initial identification in United States 2015, P. maydis has become an increasing threat to production. Despite this, remained largely understudied at molecular level, due difficulties surrounding lifestyle. Here, we generated significantly improved nuclear and mitochondrial genome, using combination of long- short-read technologies, also provide first transcriptomic analysis primary tar lesions. Our results show that deficient inorganic nitrogen utilization, likely heterothallic, encodes for more protein-coding genes, including secreted enzymes effectors, than previous determined. Furthermore, our expression suggests that, following lesion formation, might reroute carbon flux away from DNA replication cell division pathways towards previously implicated having significant roles pathogenicity, such as autophagy secretion. Together, identified several highly expressed unique factors contribute host recognition subsequent infection, greatly knowledge biological capacity maydis, which have much broader implications mitigating corn. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article distributed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .