title: The Plasmodiophora brassicae genome reveals insights in its life cycle and ancestry of chitin synthases.
abstract: Plasmodiophora brassicae causes clubroot, a major disease of Brassica oil and vegetable crops worldwide. P. brassicae is a Plasmodiophorid, obligate biotrophic protist in the eukaryotic kingdom of Rhizaria. Here we present the 25.5 Mb genome draft of P. brassicae, developmental stage-specific transcriptomes and a transcriptome of Spongospora subterranea, the Plasmodiophorid causing powdery scab on potato. Like other biotrophic pathogens both Plasmodiophorids are reduced in metabolic pathways. Phytohormones contribute to the gall phenotypes of infected roots. We report a protein (PbGH3) that can modify auxin and jasmonic acid. Plasmodiophorids contain chitin in cell walls of the resilient resting spores. If recognized, chitin can trigger defense responses in plants. Interestingly, chitin-related enzymes of Plasmodiophorids built specific families and the carbohydrate/chitin binding (CBM18) domain is enriched in the Plasmodiophorid secretome. Plasmodiophorids chitin synthases belong to two families, which were present before the split of the eukaryotic Stramenopiles/Alveolates/Rhizaria/Plantae and Metazoa/Fungi/Amoebozoa megagroups, suggesting chitin synthesis to be an ancient feature of eukaryotes. This exemplifies the importance of genomic data from unexplored eukaryotic groups, such as the Plasmodiophorids, to decipher evolutionary relationships and gene diversification of early eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology, P.O. Box 7080, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwelm
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology, P.O. Box 7080, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fogelqvist
authors.affiliation: 1] Institute of Botany, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany [2] Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knaust
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jülke
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology, P.O. Box 7080, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tua
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lilja
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Microbiology, Uppsala BioCenter, P.O. Box 7025, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: German
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonilla-Rosso
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Uppsala BioCenter, P.O. Box 7026, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shevchenko
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Gungdong 220, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Vignesh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dhandapani
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Gungdong 220, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Su Ryun
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Gungdong 220, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Gi
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Gungdong 220, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Gungdong 220, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Pyo
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Jutta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ludwig-Müller
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology, P.O. Box 7080, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dixelius
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002687:Chitin Synthase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018503:Genome, Protozoan; D023281:Genomics; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D005810:Multigene Family; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000494:pharmacology; D056909:Plasmodiophorida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D002687:Chitin Synthase