title: Obligate biotrophy features unraveled by the genomic analysis of rust fungi.
abstract: Rust fungi are some of the most devastating pathogens of crop plants. They are obligate biotrophs, which extract nutrients only from living plant tissues and cannot grow apart from their hosts. Their lifestyle has slowed the dissection of molecular mechanisms underlying host invasion and avoidance or suppression of plant innate immunity. We sequenced the 101-Mb genome of Melampsora larici-populina, the causal agent of poplar leaf rust, and the 89-Mb genome of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, the causal agent of wheat and barley stem rust. We then compared the 16,399 predicted proteins of M. larici-populina with the 17,773 predicted proteins of P. graminis f. sp tritici. Genomic features related to their obligate biotrophic lifestyle include expanded lineage-specific gene families, a large repertoire of effector-like small secreted proteins, impaired nitrogen and sulfur assimilation pathways, and expanded families of amino acid and oligopeptide membrane transporters. The dramatic up-regulation of transcripts coding for small secreted proteins, secreted hydrolytic enzymes, and transporters in planta suggests that they play a role in host infection and nutrient acquisition. Some of these genomic hallmarks are mirrored in the genomes of other microbial eukaryotes that have independently evolved to infect plants, indicating convergent adaptation to a biotrophic existence inside plant cells.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 1136, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique/Nancy Université, Interactions Arbres/Micro-organismes, Centre de Nancy, 54280 Champenoux, France. duplessi@nancy.inra.fr
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duplessis
authors.forename: Christina A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Cuomo
authors.forename: Yao-Cheng
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aerts
authors.forename: Emilie
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authors.lastname: Tisserant
authors.forename: Claire
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authors.lastname: Veneault-Fourrey
authors.forename: David L
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authors.lastname: Joly
authors.forename: Stéphane
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authors.lastname: Hacquard
authors.forename: Joëlle
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authors.lastname: Amselem
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authors.lastname: Cantarel
authors.forename: Readman
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authors.forename: Pedro M
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authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: Nicolas
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authors.lastname: Feau
authors.forename: Matthew
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authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: Pascal
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authors.lastname: Gelhaye
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authors.forename: Manfred G
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authors.lastname: Grabherr
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authors.forename: Annegret
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authors.lastname: Kohler
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authors.lastname: Kües
authors.forename: Erika A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Lindquist
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mago
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mauceli
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
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authors.lastname: Morin
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murat
authors.forename: Jasmyn L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pangilinan
authors.forename: Robert
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authors.lastname: Park
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authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: Hadi
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authors.lastname: Quesneville
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rouhier
authors.forename: Sharadha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakthikumar
authors.forename: Asaf A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Salamov
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmutz
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Selles
authors.forename: Harris
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tanguay
authors.forename: Gerald A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Tuskan
authors.forename: Bernard
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authors.lastname: Henrissat
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Van de Peer
authors.forename: Pierre
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authors.lastname: Rouzé
authors.forename: Jeffrey G
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authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Peter N
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authors.lastname: Dodds
authors.forename: Jacqueline E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schein
authors.forename: Shaobin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hamelin
authors.forename: Igor V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Grigoriev
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authors.lastname: Szabo
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authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000235:genetics*; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D016678:Genome; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009566:Nitrates / Q000737:chemistry; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013431:Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry; D014908:Triticum / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D013431:Sulfates