Journal
ISME JOURNAL
Volume 16, Issue 5, Pages 1294-1305Publisher
SPRINGERNATURE
DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-01176-6
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Funding
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Non-profit Research of the Chinese Academy of Forestry [CAFYBB2019ZA001-3]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31722014, 31772032]
- Laboratory of Excellence ARBRE [ANR-11-LABX-0002-01]
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design
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Comparative and pan-genomic analyses of the endophytic fungus Pezicula neosporulosa revealed expansions of genes related to carbohydrate metabolism and secondary metabolite biosynthesis in comparison to other plant-beneficial fungi. Population analysis of P. neosporulosa isolates showed a mosaic structure with unique mating system characteristics. Additionally, genes associated with plant cell-wall degradation and secondary metabolite biosynthesis displayed signatures of balancing selection, indicating rapid adaptation and diverse symbiotic interactions.
Comparative and pan-genomic analyses of the endophytic fungus Pezicula neosporulosa (Helotiales, Ascomycota) from needles of the relict fir, Abies beshanzuensis, showed expansions of carbohydrate metabolism and secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes characteristic for unrelated plant-beneficial helotialean, such as dark septate endophytes and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi. The current species within the relatively young Pliocene genus Pezicula are predominantly saprotrophic, while P. neosporulosa lacks such features. To understand the genomic background of this putatively convergent evolution, we performed population analyses of 77 P. neosporulosa isolates. This revealed a mosaic structure of a dozen non-recombining and highly genetically polymorphic subpopulations with a unique mating system structure. We found that one idiomorph of a probably duplicated mat1-2 gene was found in putatively heterothallic isolates, while the other co-occurred with mat1-1 locus suggesting homothallic reproduction for these strains. Moreover, 24 and 81 genes implicated in plant cell-wall degradation and secondary metabolite biosynthesis, respectively, showed signatures of the balancing selection. These findings highlight the evolutionary pattern of the two gene families for allowing the fungus a rapid adaptation towards endophytism and facilitating diverse symbiotic interactions.
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