Microbotryum Genome Project

Project Information

Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae is an experimentally tractable heterobasidiomycete fungal pathogen; it is an obligate biotroph which must complete its life cycle in a host plant. Dark teliospore masses give infected flowers a "smutted" appearance, thus the name "another smut". The disease sterilizes but does not kill the host plant, and infecting teliospores are spread between plants by pollinating insects [1]. M. lychnidis-dioicae provides an exciting system to study the evolution of host/pathogen interactions in wild, non-agricultural environments [1, 2], where host populations are more heterogeneous than for agricultural pathogens. M. lychnidis-dioicae also serves as a model for emerging infectious disease through host shifts [2], for studying the evolution of sexual systems and sex chromosomes [3], and for identifying genes involved in pathogeneticity [4].

Our collaborators for this project include:

Michael Perlin, University of Louisville
David Schultz, University of Louisville

Genomic DNA for sequencing was provided by Dr. Michael Perlin at the University of Louisville.

Funding for the M. lychnidis-dioicae sequencing project was provided by the National Science Foundation.

Which strain is sequenced?

The strain chosen for sequencing is designated as p1A1 Lamole’ is a synonym of ‘MvSl-1064'.

Data access and Citation

The genome assembly and annotation of Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae is available in Genbank.

Data files formerly available on this website can be accessed on our fungal ftp site, and the genome can also be accessed in the JGI MycoCosm site and FungiDb.

For use of this data, please cite: Perlin M et al., "Sex and parasites: genomic and transcriptomic analysis of Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae, the biotrophic and plant-castrating anther smut fungus.", BMC Genomics, 2015 Jun 16;16:461.

Image Credits

The photos in the top film strip, from left to right:

1. Female Silene latifolia flower infected with Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae Lamole strain. Residual ovary is readily observed. - Su San Toh, Department of Biology, Program on Disease Evolution, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
2. Directional growth of conjugation tube in Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae between sporidia of opposite mating types - Michael Hood, Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
3. Germination of telispore of Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae - Michael Hood, Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
4. Anthers containing Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae telispores - Michael Hood, Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
5. Male Silene latifolia flower infected with Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae Lamole strain - Su San Toh, Department of Biology, Program on Disease Evolution, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

References

1. Alexander, H.M., An experimental field study of anther-smut disease of Silene alba caused by Ustilago violacea: genotypic variation and disease incidence. Evolution, 1989. 43: p. 835-847.
2. Antonovics, J., M.E. Hood, and J. Partain, The ecology and genetics of host shift: Microbotryum as a model system. American Naturalist, 2002. 160: p. S40-S53.
3. Hood, M.E., J. Antonovics, and B. Koskella, Shared forces of sex chromosome evolution in haploid-mating and diploid-mating organisms: Microbotryum violaceum and other model organisms. Genetics, 2004. 168(1): p. 141-6.
4. Hughes, C.F. and M.H. Perlin, Differential expression of mepA, mepC and smtE during growth and development of Microbotryum violaceum. Mycologia, 2005. 97(3): p. 605-11.