PRI researcher Cees Waalwijk of the business unit Biointeractions and Plant Health is one of the authors of the article ‘The Fusarium graminearum Genome Reveals a Link Between Localized Polymorphism and Pathogen Specialization’ published in Science, volume 317 of 7 September 2007. It is the first group publication on behalf of the Fusarium International Genomics Initiative, FIGI, a worldwide consortium for fusarium research.
Contamination of cereals with the mycotoxin-producing fusarium fungus may lead to accumulation of toxins in animal feedstuffs and human food which leads to large yield losses.
The most important message of the Science paper is the finding that genes involved in the interaction with the plant are especially found at the chromosome ends. This means that the fungus is capable of rapid adaptation to changing conditions such as a new cultivar.
Whole genome sequencing reveals the typical features of chromosome ends such as increased recombination rates and SNP frequency in the middle of chromosome I (lower panel). These chromosomal regions also contain higher numbers of genes involved in secretion of compounds or gene likely to be involved in pathogenicity