title: A genome survey of Moniliophthora perniciosa gives new insights into Witches' Broom Disease of cacao.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The basidiomycete fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa is the causal agent of Witches' Broom Disease (WBD) in cacao (Theobroma cacao). It is a hemibiotrophic pathogen that colonizes the apoplast of cacao's meristematic tissues as a biotrophic pathogen, switching to a saprotrophic lifestyle during later stages of infection. M. perniciosa, together with the related species M. roreri, are pathogens of aerial parts of the plant, an uncommon characteristic in the order Agaricales. A genome survey (1.9x coverage) of M. perniciosa was analyzed to evaluate the overall gene content of this phytopathogen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genes encoding proteins involved in retrotransposition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) resistance, drug efflux transport and cell wall degradation were identified. The great number of genes encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (1.15% of gene models) indicates that M. perniciosa has a great potential for detoxification, production of toxins and hormones; which may confer a high adaptive ability to the fungus. We have also discovered new genes encoding putative secreted polypeptides rich in cysteine, as well as genes related to methylotrophy and plant hormone biosynthesis (gibberellin and auxin). Analysis of gene families indicated that M. perniciosa have similar amounts of carboxylesterases and repertoires of plant cell wall degrading enzymes as other hemibiotrophic fungi. In addition, an approach for normalization of gene family data using incomplete genome data was developed and applied in M. perniciosa genome survey.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This genome survey gives an overview of the M. perniciosa genome, and reveals that a significant portion is involved in stress adaptation and plant necrosis, two necessary characteristics for a hemibiotrophic fungus to fulfill its infection cycle. Our analysis provides new evidence revealing potential adaptive traits that may play major roles in the mechanisms of pathogenicity in the M. perniciosa/cacao pathosystem.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CP 6109, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil. jmcmondego@lge.ibi.unicamp.br
authors.forename: Jorge M C
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mondego
authors.forename: Marcelo F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Carazzolle
authors.forename: Gustavo G L
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Eduardo F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Formighieri
authors.forename: Lucas P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Parizzi
authors.forename: Johana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rincones
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cotomacci
authors.forename: Dirce M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Carraro
authors.forename: Anderson F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Helaine
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Carrer
authors.forename: Ramon O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Raíssa C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Estrela
authors.forename: Odalys
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Daniela P T
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Thomazella
authors.forename: Bruno V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Acássia Bl
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.forename: Maria Carolina S
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rio
authors.forename: Marcos Renato R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Marcos H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.forename: Luis A B
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Karina P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Gramacho
authors.forename: Marilda S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: José P Moura
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: Aristóteles Góes
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: Luciana V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Guiltinan
authors.forename: Bryan A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Lyndel W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Meinhardt
authors.forename: Julio Cm
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cascardo
authors.forename: Gonçalo A G
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002099:Cacao / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D023281:Genomics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D005810:Multigene Family; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal