title: Evolution of the Eleusine subgroup of Pyricularia oryzae inferred from rearrangement at the Pwl1 locus.
abstract: Eleusine isolates (members of the Eleusine subgroup) of Pyricularia oryzae are divided into two groups, Ec-I and Ec-II, differentiated by molecular markers. A multilocus phylogenetic analysis and DNA fingerprinting suggested that Ec-I isolates are very close to Eragrostis isolates rather than Ec-II isolates. Infection assays revealed that Ec-II and Eragrostis isolates were exclusively virulent on finger millet and weeping lovegrass, respectively, whereas Ec-I isolates were virulent on both. The avirulence or virulence on weeping lovegrass perfectly corresponded to the presence or absence of an avirulence gene, PWL1; all Ec-II isolates carried an identical, functional PWL1, whereas none of Ec-I isolates or Eragrostis isolates carried it. A comparison of PWL1 flanking regions revealed that Ec-II isolates had a peculiar structure produced by an insertion (or translocation) of a DNA fragment carrying PWL1. Based on these results, a model was constructed which illustrated possible pathways to the establishment of the Eleusine subgroup.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Gang-Su
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hyon
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakayashiki
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tosa
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D031748:Eleusine / Q000382:microbiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / Q000502:physiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins