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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #352433
Title: Identification of effector homologs in the sugarcane orange rust pathogen Puccinia kuehnii

Author
item CANO, L.M - University Of Florida
item OPPELAAR, T.S - University Of Florida
item RODRIGUES, L.N - University Of Florida
item CHAULAGAIN, B - University Of Florida
item HINCAPIE, M - University Of Florida
item Sood, Sushma
item ZHENG, Q - University Of Florida
item COMSTOCK, JACK - Former ARS Employee
item URASHIMA, SEITI - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item ROTT, PHILIPE - University Of Florida

Submitted to: American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/30/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: Puccinia kuehnii, the causal agent of orange rust, is a fungal pathogen that causes damaging losses to the sugarcane crop worldwide. Rust fungi deliver effector proteins into infected host tissues using a specialized feeding structure called haustorium, to manipulate plant functions and promote parasitic growth. Effector protein repertoires have been characterized in several Puccinia species and other devastating rust fungi. In this study, the genomes of two Florida isolates of P. kuehnii (1040 and 2143) varying in virulence were sequenced. Draft whole-genome and transcriptome assemblies from isolates 1040 and 2143 were used to perform sequence comparisons (BLASTn) against a list of 40 haustoria expressed effector genes from various rust fungi. These sequence comparisons allowed us to identify homolog gene sequences in P. kuehnii genomes to known suppressors of hypersensitive response (SHR) effector proteins. These homologs will be used to characterize genome sequence variations and to identify molecular makers that could be associated with virulence in the sugarcane orange rust pathogen. Our findings are a first step toward improving sugarcane rust disease management using next-generation technologies.