Global genomic analyses of wheat powdery mildew reveal historical co-migration with humans

Authors: SOTIROPOULOS, ALEXANDROS - University Of Zurich; ARANGO-ISAZA, EPIFANIA - University Of Zurich; BAN, TOMOHIRO - Yokohama City University; BARBIERI, CHIARA - University Of Zurich; BOURRAS, SALIM - University Of Zurich; Cowger, Christina; CZEMBOR, PAWEL - National Research Institute; DAVID, ROI BEN - Volcani Center (ARO); DINOOR, AMOS - Hebrew University Of Jerusalem; ELLWOOD, SIMON - Curtin University; GRAF, JOHANNES - University Of Zurich; HATTA, KOICHI - National Agricultural Research Center - Japan; HELGUERA, MARCELO - Instituto Nacional Tecnologia Agropecuaria; SANCHEZ-MARTIN, JAVIER - University Of Zurich; MCDONALD, BRUCE - Eth Zurich; MORGOUNOV, ALEXEY - Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations; MULLER, MARION - University Of Zurich; SHAMANIN, VLADIMIR - Omsk State Agrarian University; SHIMIZU, KENTARO - University Of Zurich; YOSHIHIRA, TAIKI - Rakuno Gakuen University; ZBINDEN, HELEN - University Of Zurich; KELLER, BEAT - University Of Zurich; WICKER, THOMAS - University Of Zurich

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/15/2022
Publication Date: 7/26/2022
Citation: Sotiropoulos, A.G., Arango-Isaza, E., Ban, T., Barbieri, C., Bourras, S., Cowger, C., Czembor, P.C., David, R., Dinoor, A., Ellwood, S.R., Graf, J., Hatta, K., Helguera, M., Sanchez-Martin, J., Mcdonald, B.A., Morgounov, A.I., Muller, M.C., Shamanin, V., Shimizu, K.K., Yoshihira, T., Zbinden, H., Keller, B., Wicker, T. 2022. Global genomic analyses of wheat powdery mildew reveal historical co-migration with humans. Nature Communications. 13:4315. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31975-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31975-0

Interpretive Summary: The fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici causes wheat powdery mildew disease. Here, we study its spread and evolution by analyzing a global sample of 172 mildew genomes. Our analyses show that B.g. tritici emerged in the Fertile Crescent during wheat domestication. After it spread throughout Eurasia, colonization brought it to America, where it hybridized with unknown grass mildew species. Recent trade brought USA strains to Japan, and European strains to China. In both places, they hybridized with local ancestral strains. Thus, although mildew spreads by wind regionally, our results indicate that humans drove its global spread throughout history and that mildew rapidly evolved through hybridization.

Technical Abstract: Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici causes wheat powdery mildew disease. To study its spread and evolution, we analyzed a global sample of 173 mildew genomes. We show that B.g. tritici emerged in the Fertile Crescent during wheat domestication. After it spread throughout Eurasia, colonization brought it to America, where it hybridized with unknown grass mildew species. Recent trade brought USA strains to Japan, and European strains to China. In both places, they hybridized with local ancestral strains. Although mildew spreads by wind locally, we show that humans drove its global spread throughout history and that mildew rapidly evolved through hybridization.