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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419969
Research Project: Development of Pathogen- and Plant-Based Genetic Tools and Disease Mitigation Methods for Tropical Perennial Crops

Location: Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory

Title: Draft genome for the horse hair fungus, Marasmius crinis-equi, isolated from cacao in Ghana

Author
item Cohen, Stephen
item BARUAH, INDRANI - Orise Fellow
item AMOAKA-ATTAH, ISHMAEL - Cocoa Research Institute Of Ghana
item BUKARI, YAHAYA - Cocoa Research Institute Of Ghana
item BAILEY, BRYAN - Retired ARS Employee
item Meinhardt, Lyndel

Submitted to: Microbiology Resource Announcements
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2025
Publication Date: 2/3/2025
Citation: Cohen, S.P., Baruah, I., Amoaka-Attah, I., Bukari, Y., Bailey, B., Meinhardt, L.W. 2025. Draft genome for the horse hair fungus, Marasmius crinis-equi, isolated from cacao in Ghana. Microbiology Resource Announcements. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.01108-24.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.01108-24

Interpretive Summary: Thread blight disease is an increasing problem for global chocolate production. Thread blight is caused by multiple fungi, including the horse hair fungus. Normally, this fungus forms webs between trees to catch and break-down falling leaves. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, the horse hair fungus starts attacking and causing disease in living plants, including cacao trees, the source of chocolate. We used DNA sequencing to produce a high-quality genome sequence for the horse hair fungus. This sequence contains detailed information about how the fungus functions and what weapons it uses to cause disease while attacking cacao trees. This genome is of broad interest to biologists studying leaf litter decomposers, horse hair blight, and thread blight on cacao trees. This release enables cacao researchers to develop tools to combat thread blight disease and help safeguard chocolate production.

Technical Abstract: Global chocolate production is threatened by diseases that infect the source of chocolate, Theobroma cacao, including thread blight disease (TBD) caused by fungi in the Marasmiaceae family. A study in multiple T. cacao-growing regions in Ghana found four species causing TBD in five morphotypes, including Marasmius crinis-equi which appears as smooth, wiry, black rhizomorphs resembling horse hair. M. crinis-equi is an aerial fungus that forms litter-decomposing nets in subcanopies. It can act as a pathogen on a wide range of plant hosts, defoliating healthy branches and causing horse hair blight on tea, and others. Little is known about the genomic mechanisms of how M. crinis-equi evolved or how it causes disease. Therefore, we generated a draft genome of Ghanian M. crinis-equi strain GH-76 to fill this knowledge gap.