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Horizontally Transferred Genes Contribute to Pathogenicity in Colletotrichum graminicola

Prof. Michael Ronald Thon, University of Salamanca, Spanish-Portuguese Institute for Agricultural Research, Spain

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the stable transmission of genetic material between organisms by means other than vertical inheritance. HGT has an important role in the evolution of prokaryotes but is relatively rare in eukaryotes. We studied the importance of HGT in plant pathogenic fungi by identifying horizontally transferred genes in the genomes of members of the genus Colletotrichum.  We identified eleven HGT events from bacteria and one from plants to Colletotrichum spp or their ancestors.  The horizontally transferred genes from bacteria encode proteins involved in amino acid, lipid and sugar metabolism as well as lytic enzymes. Four of the eleven genes have homology to known virulence factors, suggesting that HGT may be important for niche adaptation and virulence.  The putative minimal dates of the HGT events were calculated using a time calibrated phylogenetic tree, revealing a constant flux of genes from bacteria to fungi throughout the evolution of subphylum Pezizomycotina.  HGT appears to be a constant, albeit rare phenomenon in the Pezizomycotina, occurring at a steady rate during their evolution. The gene acquired from plants encodes a protease which we call CPLS (Colletotrichum plant-like serine protease).   Transcriptional profiling and pathogenicity assays of CPLS null mutants show that CPLS is expressed at the early stages of pathogenesis and has a role in virulence. Together, our results suggest that HGT is an important evolutionary process in fungi that contributes to the evolution of plant pathogens.