title: The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices is haploid and has a small genome size in the lower limit of eukaryotes.
abstract: The genome size, complexity, and ploidy of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Glomus intraradices was determined using flow cytometry, reassociation kinetics, and genomic reconstruction. Nuclei of G. intraradices from in vitro culture, were analyzed by flow cytometry. The estimated average length of DNA per nucleus was 14.07+/-3.52 Mb. Reassociation kinetics on G. intraradices DNA indicated a haploid genome size of approximately 16.54 Mb, comprising 88.36% single copy DNA, 1.59% repetitive DNA, and 10.05% fold-back DNA. To determine ploidy, the DNA content per nucleus measured by flow cytometry was compared with the genome estimate of reassociation kinetics. G. intraradices was found to have a DNA index (DNA per nucleus per haploid genome size) of approximately 0.9, indicating that it is haploid. Genomic DNA of G. intraradices was also analyzed by genomic reconstruction using four genes (Malate synthase, RecA, Rad32, and Hsp88). Because we used flow cytometry and reassociation kinetics to reveal the genome size of G. intraradices and show that it is haploid, then a similar value for genome size should be found when using genomic reconstruction as long as the genes studied are single copy. The average genome size estimate was 15.74+/-1.69 Mb indicating that these four genes are single copy per haploid genome and per nucleus of G. intraradices. Our results show that the genome size of G. intraradices is much smaller than estimates of other AMF and that the unusually high within-spore genetic variation that is seen in this fungus cannot be due to high ploidy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Mohamed.Hijri@ie-bsg.unil.ch
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hijri
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Sanders
mesh_terms: D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D006238:Haploidy; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008292:Malate Synthase / Q000235:genetics; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000235:genetics*; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009695:Nucleic Acid Renaturation; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; C112117:Hsp88 protein, Neurospora crassa; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; D008292:Malate Synthase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases; C092453:Mre11 protein, S pombe