[Frontier Leaders] The two-speed genomes of filamentous pathogens: from fundamental concepts to practical considerations

Frontier Leaders Seminar

Title: The two-speed genomes of filamentous pathogens: from fundamental concepts to practical considerations

Speaker: Sophien Kamoun

Affiliation: Sophien Kamoun,
The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom.

http://www.KamounLab.net

Abstract:

Fungi and oomycetes include deep and diverse lineages of eukaryotic plant pathogens. The last ~10 years have seen the sequencing of the genomes of a multitude of species of these so-called filamentous plant pathogens. Already, fundamental concepts have emerged. Filamentous plant pathogen genomes tend to harbor large repertoires of genes encoding virulence effectors that modulate host plant processes. Effector genes are not randomly distributed across the genomes but tend to be associated with compartments enriched in repetitive sequences and transposable elements. These findings have led to the ‘two- speed genome’ model in which filamentous pathogen genomes have a bipartite architecture with gene sparse, repeat rich compartments serving as a cradle for adaptive evolution. Here, I will review this concept and discuss how plant pathogens are great model systems to study evolutionary adaptations at multiple time scales. I will also introduce the next phase of research on this topic.