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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Crop Production and Pest Control Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #413667
Research Project: Designing Soybeans with Enhanced Seed Quality, Plant Health Traits and Climate Resilience

Location: Crop Production and Pest Control Research

Title: Comparative genomics approach for the development of microsatellite markers and population structure of Fusarium virguliforme in Argentina and the USA

Author
item Cai, Guohong
item DA SILVA, LEANDRO LOPES - Orise Fellow
item TIAN, HUAN - Purdue University
item XU, JINRONG - Purdue University

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: Microsatellites are versatile molecular markers used in many fields of biology. The availability of genome assemblies in many organisms removed the first bottleneck in the development of these markers – obtaining microsatellite-containing sequences. Here we report the development of a comparative genomics approach that eliminated the second bottleneck – the need to screen a large number of loci to obtain a small number of informative microsatellite markers. This approach was first applied to Phytophthora sojae, the pathogen of soybean root rot, and identified 157 informative microsatellite markers. Experimental validation of 20 loci supported bioinformatics predictions. It was then applied to Fusarium virguliforme, which causes sudden death syndrome in soybean, and identified 29 informative microsatellite markers. Sixteen markers were used to examine population structure of this pathogen in a collection of 90 isolate from the United States and Argentina. A total of 37 multilocus genotypes (MLGs) were identified, 10 from Argentina and 27 from the USA. Only the most dominant MLG (MLG2) was shared by both countries. Analyses showed that these MLGs likely belonged to three clusters, an ancestral cluster that was only found in the USA, and two dominant clusters that were presented in all four sampled states in Argentina and five sampled states in the USA. Our comparative genomics approach can be readily applied to other organisms of which multiple individuals have been sequenced. Our population study did not support the contention that Fusarium virguliforme originated in South America. Further studies are required to determine the origin of this pathogen.