Chromosome-scale genome assembly of Fusarium oxysporum strain Fo47, a fungal endophyte and biocontrol agent

Authors: WANG, BO - Xian University; YU, HOULIN - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst; JIA, YANYAN - Xian University; DONG, QUANBIN - Xianxiang University; STEINBERG, CHRISTIAN - Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA); ALABOUVETTE, CLAUDE - Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA); EDEL-HERMANN, VERONIQUE - Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA); Kistler, Harold; YE, KAI - Xianxiang University; MA, LI-JUN - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst; GUO, LI - Xian University

Submitted to: Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/16/2020
Publication Date: 7/28/2020
Citation: Wang, B., Yu, H., Jia, Y., Dong, Q., Steinberg, C., Alabouvette, C., Edel-Hermann, V., Kistler, H.C., Ye, K., Ma, L., Guo, L. 2020. Chromosome-scale genome assembly of Fusarium oxysporum strain Fo47, a fungal endophyte and biocontrol agent. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. 33(9):1108-1111. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-05-20-0116-A.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-05-20-0116-A

Interpretive Summary: Many fungi are destructive to agriculture production because of their ability to cause disease on crop plants. However, other closely related fungi are beneficial because they are able to prevent the infection of harmful fungi. The fungus studied here was originally isolated from naturally disease-suppressive soils and has been proven to be effective for preventing wilt diseases in a broad range of crops. The disease suppressive principles of this strain however are unknown and knowledge of the genetic mechanisms underlying disease suppression could be useful to design or select for more efficacious fungi to be used for biological control of plant disease. To help overcome this knowledge gap, we have created a very high quality genome sequence of the strain. We anticipate this information will be a valuable resource for researchers studying the mechanisms responsible for microbial interactions resulting in disease suppression.

Technical Abstract: Here, we report a chromosome-level genome assembly of Fusarium oxysporum strain Fo47 (12 pseudomolecules; contig N50: 4.52Mb), generated using a combination of PacBio long-read sequencing, Illumina pair-ended sequencing and Hi-C data. Despite the fact that the fungal species F. oxysporum causes vascular wilt to over 100 plant species, the strain Fo47 is classified as an endophyte and widely used as a biocontrol agent for plant disease control. The Fo47 genome carries a single accessory chromosome of 4.23 Mb, comparing to the reference genome of F. oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici strain Fol4287. The high-quality assembly and annotation of Fo47 genome will be a valuable resource for studying the mechanisms underlying the endophytic interactions between F. oxysporum and plants, as well as deciphering the genome evolution of F. oxysporum species complex.