Endophytic fungi related to the ash dieback causal agent encode signatures of pathogenicity on European ash
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Resource type
Journal article
Date published
May 11, 2023
Abstract
Tree diseases constitute a significant threat to biodiversity worldwide. Pathogen discovery in natural habitats is of vital importance to understanding current and future threats and prioritising efforts towards developing disease management strategies. Ash dieback is a fungal disease of major conservational concern that is infecting common ash trees, , in Europe. The disease is caused by a non-native fungal pathogen, . Other dieback causing-species have not previously been identified in the genus . Here, we discover the pathogenicity potential of two newly identified related species of Asian origin, and , and one Europe-native related species, . We sequence the genomes of all three species and compare them to that of . Phylogenetic analysis of core eukaryotic genes identified and as sister species, whilst diverged prior to these and . All four genomes are of comparable size (55–62 Mbp) and GC contents (42–44%) and encode for polymorphic secretomes. Surprisingly, 1133 predicted secreted proteins are shared between the ash dieback pathogen and the three related endophytes. Amongst shared secreted proteins are cell death-inducing effector candidates, such as necrosis, and ethylene-inducing peptide 1-like proteins, Nep1-like proteins, that are upregulated during growth of all species. Indeed, pathogenicity tests showed that all four related species develop pathogenic growth on European ash stems, with native being the least virulent. Our results identify the threat species pose to the survival of European ash trees, and highlight the importance of promoting pathogen surveillance in environmental landscapes. Identifying new pathogens and including them in the screening for durable immunity of common ash trees is key to the long-term survival of ash in Europe.
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom | Pilot Study Fund 11231-105 |
Godfred Birkedal Hartmanns Familiefond, Denmark | 2017 |
Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond, Denmark | Grant no. 6111-00254 |
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom | BB/CCG1720/1 - BBS/E/T/000PR9818 - WP1 Signatures of Domestication and Adaptation. - National Capability in Genomics and Single Cell Analysis - BBS/E/T/000PR9816 - Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership grant BB/M011216/1 - Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership grant BB/T008717/1 - JAP Year in Industry (BBS/E/T/000PR9811) |
Journal title
IMA Fungus
Volume
14
Article number
10
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Place of publication
Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany
ISSN
2210-6340
eISSN
2210-6359
Date accepted
May 2, 2023
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
IF = 8.044 (2022-2023)