title: Genomic analyses and expression evaluation of thaumatin-like gene family in the cacao fungal pathogen Moniliophthora perniciosa.
abstract: Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) are found in diverse eukaryotes. Plant TLPs, known as Pathogenicity Related Protein (PR-5), are considered fungal inhibitors. However, genes encoding TLPs are frequently found in fungal genomes. In this work, we have identified that Moniliophthora perniciosa, a basidiomycete pathogen that causes the Witches' Broom Disease (WBD) of cacao, presents thirteen putative TLPs from which four are expressed during WBD progression. One of them is similar to small TLPs, which are present in phytopathogenic basidiomycete, such as wheat stem rust fungus Puccinia graminis. Fungi genomes annotation and phylogenetic data revealed a larger number of TLPs in basidiomycetes when comparing with ascomycetes, suggesting that these proteins could be involved in specific traits of mushroom-forming species. Based on the present data, we discuss the contribution of TLPs in the combat against fungal competitors and hypothesize a role of these proteins in M. perniciosa pathogenicity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sulamita de Freitas
authors.initials: Sde F
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil; Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Recursos Genéticos Vegetais, Instituto Agronômico, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata Moro
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Baroni
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Falsarella
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Carazzolle
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo José Pereira Lima
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética, Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: goncalo@unicamp.br.
authors.forename: Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Recursos Genéticos Vegetais, Instituto Agronômico, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jorge Maurício Costa
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mondego
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002099:Cacao / Q000382:microbiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012331:RNA, Fungal
keywords: Cacao; Gene expansion; Gene expression; Moniliophthora perniciosa; Thaumatins; Witches' broom disease