Genome sequence and analysis of the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans.
Phytophthora infestans is the most destructive pathogen of potato and a model organism for the oomycetes, a distinct lineage of fungus-like eukaryotes that are related to organisms such as brown algae and diatoms. As the agent of the Irish potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century, P. infestans has had a tremendous effect on human history, resulting in famine and population displacement. To this day, it affects world agriculture by causing the most destructive disease of potato, the fourth largest food crop and a critical alternative to the major cereal crops for feeding the world's population. Current annual worldwide potato crop losses due to late blight are conservatively estimated at $6.7 billion. Management of this devastating pathogen is challenged by its remarkable speed of adaptation to control strategies such as genetically resistant cultivars. Here we report the sequence of the P. infestans genome, which at approximately 240 megabases (Mb) is by far the largest and most complex genome sequenced so far in the chromalveolates. Its expansion results from a proliferation of repetitive DNA accounting for approximately 74% of the genome. Comparison with two other Phytophthora genomes showed rapid turnover and extensive expansion of specific families of secreted disease effector proteins, including many genes that are induced during infection or are predicted to have activities that alter host physiology. These fast-evolving effector genes are localized to highly dynamic and expanded regions of the P. infestans genome. This probably plays a crucial part in the rapid adaptability of the pathogen to host plants and underpins its evolutionary potential.
Haas
Brian J
BJ
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA.
Kamoun
Sophien
S
Zody
Michael C
MC
Jiang
Rays H Y
RH
Handsaker
Robert E
RE
Cano
Liliana M
LM
Grabherr
Manfred
M
Kodira
Chinnappa D
CD
Raffaele
Sylvain
S
Torto-Alalibo
Trudy
T
Bozkurt
Tolga O
TO
Ah-Fong
Audrey M V
AM
Alvarado
Lucia
L
Anderson
Vicky L
VL
Armstrong
Miles R
MR
Avrova
Anna
A
Baxter
Laura
L
Beynon
Jim
J
Boevink
Petra C
PC
Bollmann
Stephanie R
SR
Bos
Jorunn I B
JI
Bulone
Vincent
V
Cai
Guohong
G
Cakir
Cahid
C
Carrington
James C
JC
Chawner
Megan
M
Conti
Lucio
L
Costanzo
Stefano
S
Ewan
Richard
R
Fahlgren
Noah
N
Fischbach
Michael A
MA
Fugelstad
Johanna
J
Gilroy
Eleanor M
EM
Gnerre
Sante
S
Green
Pamela J
PJ
Grenville-Briggs
Laura J
LJ
Griffith
John
J
Grünwald
Niklaus J
NJ
Horn
Karolyn
K
Horner
Neil R
NR
Hu
Chia-Hui
CH
Huitema
Edgar
E
Jeong
Dong-Hoon
DH
Jones
Alexandra M E
AM
Jones
Jonathan D G
JD
Jones
Richard W
RW
Karlsson
Elinor K
EK
Kunjeti
Sridhara G
SG
Lamour
Kurt
K
Liu
Zhenyu
Z
Ma
Lijun
L
Maclean
Daniel
D
Chibucos
Marcus C
MC
McDonald
Hayes
H
McWalters
Jessica
J
Meijer
Harold J G
HJ
Morgan
William
W
Morris
Paul F
PF
Munro
Carol A
CA
O'Neill
Keith
K
Ospina-Giraldo
Manuel
M
Pinzón
Andrés
A
Pritchard
Leighton
L
Ramsahoye
Bernard
B
Ren
Qinghu
Q
Restrepo
Silvia
S
Roy
Sourav
S
Sadanandom
Ari
A
Savidor
Alon
A
Schornack
Sebastian
S
Schwartz
David C
DC
Schumann
Ulrike D
UD
Schwessinger
Ben
B
Seyer
Lauren
L
Sharpe
Ted
T
Silvar
Cristina
C
Song
Jing
J
Studholme
David J
DJ
Sykes
Sean
S
Thines
Marco
M
van de Vondervoort
Peter J I
PJ
Phuntumart
Vipaporn
V
Wawra
Stephan
S
Weide
Rob
R
Win
Joe
J
Young
Carolyn
C
Zhou
Shiguo
S
Fry
William
W
Meyers
Blake C
BC
van West
Pieter
P
Ristaino
Jean
J
Govers
Francine
F
Birch
Paul R J
PR
Whisson
Stephen C
SC
Judelson
Howard S
HS
Nusbaum
Chad
C
D020418:Algal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009336:Necrosis; D010641:Phenotype; D055750:Phytophthora infestans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013217:Starvation
D020418:Algal Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D021901:DNA, Intergenic