Imperial College London
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Professor Matthew Fisher

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Professor of Fungal Disease Epidemiology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

matthew.fisher Website

 
 
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Location

 

1113Sir Michael Uren HubWhite City Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Wacker:2021:10.1101/2021.11.03.467166,
author = {Wacker, T and Helmstetter, N and Wilson, D and Fisher, MC and Studholme, DJ and Farrer, RA},
doi = {10.1101/2021.11.03.467166},
title = {Two-speed genome expansion drives the evolution of pathogenicity in animal fungal pathogens},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.03.467166},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The origins of virulence in amphibian-infecting chytrids <jats:italic>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Bd</jats:italic>) and <jats:italic>Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Bsal)</jats:italic> are largely unknown. Here, we use deep nanopore sequencing of <jats:italic>Bsal</jats:italic> and comparative genomics against 21 high-quality genome assemblies that span the fungal Chytridiomycota. <jats:italic>Bsal</jats:italic> has the most repeat-rich genome, comprising 40.9% repetitive elements, which has expanded to more than 3X the length of its conspecific <jats:italic>Bd</jats:italic>. M36 metalloprotease virulence factors are highly expanded in <jats:italic>Bsal</jats:italic> and 53% of the 177 unique genes are flanked by transposable elements, suggesting repeat-driven expansion. The largest M36 sub-family are mostly (84%) flanked upstream by a novel LINE element, a repeat superfamily implicated with gene copy number variations. We find that <jats:italic>Bsal</jats:italic> has a highly compartmentalized genome architecture, with virulence factors enriched in gene-sparse/repeat-rich compartments, while core conserved genes occur in gene-rich/repeat-poor compartments. This is a hallmark of two-speed genome evolution. Furthermore, genes with signatures of positive selection in <jats:italic>Bd</jats:italic> are enriched in repeat-rich regions, suggesting they are a cradle for chytrid pathogenicity evolution, and <jats:italic>Bd</jats:italic> also has a two-speed genome. This is the first evidence of two-speed genomes in any animal pathogen, and sheds new light on the evolution of fungal pathogens of vertebrates driving global declines and extinctions.</jats:p>
AU  - Wacker,T
AU  - Helmstetter,N
AU  - Wilson,D
AU  - Fisher,MC
AU  - Studholme,DJ
AU  - Farrer,RA
DO  - 10.1101/2021.11.03.467166
PY  - 2021///
TI  - Two-speed genome expansion drives the evolution of pathogenicity in animal fungal pathogens
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.03.467166
ER  -
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