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A genome survey of Moniliophthora perniciosa gives new insights into Witches' Broom Disease of cacao

Jorge MC Mondego1* email, Marcelo F Carazzolle1* email, Gustavo GL Costa1 email, Eduardo F Formighieri1 email, Lucas P Parizzi1 email, Johana Rincones1 email, Carolina Cotomacci1 email, Dirce M Carraro2 email, Anderson F Cunha3 email, Helaine Carrer4 email, Ramon O Vidal1 email, Raíssa C Estrela1 email, Odalys García1 email, Daniela PT Thomazella1 email, Bruno V de Oliveira1 email, Acássia BL Pires5 email, Maria Carolina S Rio1 email, Marcos Renato R Araújo1 email, Marcos H de Moraes1 email, Luis AB Castro6 email, Karina P Gramacho7 email, Marilda S Gonçalves8 email, José P Moura Neto8 email, Aristóteles Góes Neto9 email, Luciana V Barbosa10 email, Mark J Guiltinan11 email, Bryan A Bailey12 email, Lyndel W Meinhardt12* email, Julio CM Cascardo5* email and Gonçalo AG Pereira1 email

1  Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CP 6109, 13083-970, Campinas – SP, Brazil

2  Laboratório de Genômica e Biologia Molecular, Hospital A.C. Camargo, 01509-010, São Paulo – SP, Brazil

3  HEMOCENTRO, Laboratório de Genoma e Hemoglobina, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13084-878, Campinas – SP, Brazil

4  Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, ESALQ, USP, 13418-900, Piracicaba – SP, Brazil

5  Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão Gênica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, 45650-000, Ilhéus – BA, Brazil

6  Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Parque Estação Biológica – PqEB – Av. W5 Norte, 70770-900, Brasília – DF, Brazil

7  CEPLAC/CEPEC/SEFIT, 45600-970, Itabuna – BA, Brazil

8  Laboratório de Biologia Molecular – Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, 40170-290, Salvador – BA, Brazil

9  Laboratório de Pesquisa em Microbiologia (LAPEM), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS), 44031-460, Feira de Santana – BA, Brazil

10  Laboratório de Biologia Molecular – Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, 40170-290, Salvador – BA, Brazil

11  Department of Horticulture, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Chester, PA 16802, USA

12  Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 10300 Baltimore Av, Bldg. 001, 18 Beltsville MD 20705-2350, USA

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

BMC Genomics 2008, 9:548doi:10.1186/1471-2164-9-548

Published: 18 November 2008

Abstract

Background

The basidiomycete fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa is the causal agent of Witches' Broom Disease (WBD) in cacao (Theobroma cacao). It is a hemibiotrophic pathogen that colonizes the apoplast of cacao's meristematic tissues as a biotrophic pathogen, switching to a saprotrophic lifestyle during later stages of infection. M. perniciosa, together with the related species M. roreri, are pathogens of aerial parts of the plant, an uncommon characteristic in the order Agaricales. A genome survey (1.9× coverage) of M. perniciosa was analyzed to evaluate the overall gene content of this phytopathogen.

Results

Genes encoding proteins involved in retrotransposition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) resistance, drug efflux transport and cell wall degradation were identified. The great number of genes encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (1.15% of gene models) indicates that M. perniciosa has a great potential for detoxification, production of toxins and hormones; which may confer a high adaptive ability to the fungus. We have also discovered new genes encoding putative secreted polypeptides rich in cysteine, as well as genes related to methylotrophy and plant hormone biosynthesis (gibberellin and auxin). Analysis of gene families indicated that M. perniciosa have similar amounts of carboxylesterases and repertoires of plant cell wall degrading enzymes as other hemibiotrophic fungi. In addition, an approach for normalization of gene family data using incomplete genome data was developed and applied in M. perniciosa genome survey.

Conclusion

This genome survey gives an overview of the M. perniciosa genome, and reveals that a significant portion is involved in stress adaptation and plant necrosis, two necessary characteristics for a hemibiotrophic fungus to fulfill its infection cycle. Our analysis provides new evidence revealing potential adaptive traits that may play major roles in the mechanisms of pathogenicity in the M. perniciosa/cacao pathosystem.

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