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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Food Quality Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332102
Title: Whole-genome comparisons of Penicillium spp. reveals secondary metabolic gene clusters and candidate genes associated with fungal aggressiveness during apple fruit decay

Author
item WU, GUANGXI - Orise Fellow
item Jurick, Wayne
item YIN, GUOHUA - Rutgers University
item Yu, Jiujiang
item PENG, HUI - Pennsylvania State University
item Gaskins, Verneta
item YIN, YANBIN - Northern Illinois University
item Hua, Sui Sheng
item PETER, KARI - Pennsylvania State University
item Shelton, Daniel

Submitted to: PeerJ
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2018
Publication Date: 1/9/2019
Citation: Wu, G., Jurick II, W.M., Yin, G., Yu, J., Peng, H., Gaskins, V.L., Yin, Y., Hua, S.T., Peter, K., Shelton, D.R. 2019. Whole-genome comparisons of Penicillium spp. reveals secondary metabolic gene clusters and candidate genes associated with fungal aggressiveness during apple fruit decay. PeerJ. 7:e6170. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6170.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6170

Interpretive Summary: Penicilliun fungal species cause blue mold decay in apples during storage. Penicillium expansum is the most virulent while Penicillium solitum is the least virulent. In order to understand the genetic mechanism contributing to fungal virulence, the genomes of P. expansum and P. solitum were sequenced. We report here on our analysis of the genome sequence for these two Penicillium species. Comparisons of the two genomes revealed genes that are potentially involved in the decay of apple fruit during storage. This information will help scientists to devise new effective strategies to reduce economic losses that occur due to blue mold apple decay.

Technical Abstract: Blue mold of apple and pears are caused by Penicillium species, mainly P. expansum. Genome-wide analysis of the genetic components and their regulatory mechanisms may provide insight into their virulence for devising pathogen-specific control strategies. The highly virulent species P. expansum (R19) and the weakly virulent P. solitum (RS1) were sequenced and analyzed. The genome similarities and differences were examined. A total of 10,560 and 10,672 protein coding sequences were identified and contained 41 and 43 unique genes in P. expansum (R19) and P. solitum (RS1), respectively. The genes responsible for infection in apple decay could be among those unique genes identified in the virulent strain P. expansum (R19). Further investigations to characterize their specific function is necessary through transcriptome analysis and gene knock-out experiments.