Genome-Wide Analysis of Four Pathotypes of Wheat Rust Pathogen (<i>Puccinia graminis</i>) Reveals Structural Variations and Diversifying Selection

oleh: Kanti Kiran, Hukam C. Rawal, Himanshu Dubey, Rajdeep Jaswal, Subhash C. Bhardwaj, Rupesh Deshmukh, Tilak Raj Sharma

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-08-01

Deskripsi

Diseases caused by <i>Puccinia graminis</i> are some of the most devastating diseases of wheat. Extensive genomic understanding of the pathogen has proven helpful not only in understanding host- pathogen interaction but also in finding appropriate control measures. In the present study, whole-genome sequencing of four diverse <i>P. graminis</i> pathotypes was performed to understand the genetic variation and evolution. An average of 63.5 Gb of data per pathotype with about 100× average genomic coverage was achieved with 100-base paired-end sequencing performed with Illumina Hiseq 1000. Genome structural annotations collectively predicted 9273 functional proteins including ~583 extracellular secreted proteins. Approximately 7.4% of the genes showed similarity with the PHI database which is suggestive of their significance in pathogenesis. Genome-wide analysis demonstrated pathotype 117-6 as likely distinct and descended through a different lineage. The 3–6% more SNPs in the regulatory regions and 154 genes under positive selection with their orthologs and under negative selection in the other three pathotypes further supported pathotype 117-6 to be highly diverse in nature. The genomic information generated in the present study could serve as an important source for comparative genomic studies across the genus <i>Puccinia</i> and lead to better rust management in wheat.