title: Flow cytometry reveals that the rust fungus, Uromyces bidentis (Pucciniales), possesses the largest fungal genome reported--2489 Mbp.
abstract: Among the Eukaryotes, Fungi have relatively small genomes (average of 44.2 Mbp across 1850 species). The order Pucciniales (Basidiomycota) has the largest average genome size among fungi (305 Mbp), and includes the two largest fungal genomes reported so far (Puccinia chrysanthemi and Gymnosporangium confusum, with 806.5 and 893.2 Mbp, respectively). In this work, flow cytometry was employed to determine the genome size of the Bidens pilosa rust pathogen, Uromyces bidentis. The results obtained revealed that U. bidentis presents a surprisingly large haploid genome size of 2489 Mbp. This value is almost three times larger than the previous largest fungal genome reported and over 50 times larger than the average fungal genome size. Microscopic examination of U. bidentis nuclei also showed that they are not as different in size from the B. pilosa nuclei when compared with the differences between other rusts and their host plants. This result further reinforces the position of the Pucciniales as the fungal group with the largest genomes, prompting studies addressing the role of repetitive elements and polyploidy in the evolution, pathological specialization and diversity of fungal species.
authors.affiliation: LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, BioTrop, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, 2780-505, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.affiliation: CFE, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.affiliation: LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal.|Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, BioTrop, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, 2780-505, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Do Céu
authors.initials: Mdo C
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: CFE, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loureiro
authors.affiliation: LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal.|Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, BioTrop, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, 2780-505, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Talhinhas
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000235:genetics*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D059646:Genome Size; D016681:Genome, Fungal
keywords: Bidens pilosa; Uromyces bidentis; flow cytometry; genome size