Corynespora cassiicola Genome sequencing and assembly. Corynespora cassiicola

Corynespora cassiicola (Berk.& M. A. Curtis) is a plant pathogen. This ascomycete is responsible for the recent emergence of threatening diseases in a large range of plants, in tropical and subtropical areas. Important crops such as rubber tree, soybean, tomato, cucumber, cacao, manioc and many other fruit and ornamental plants are affected. Mostly known as a necrotrophic plant pathogen, C. cassiicola was also described as an endophyte or a saprobe. It was also reported in humans.C. cassiicola is one of the hundred Corynespora species described so far. C. cassiicola and C. smithi form an outgroup among the Pleosporales in the phylogenetic tree of the Dothideomycetes, without clear relationship to any other currently defined family.An important diversity was evidenced within the C. cassiicola species, both in terms of genetics and biology. A small secreted protein named cassiicolin was described as an important effector of rubber tree pathogenic isolates. The cassiicolin gene polymorphism was concordant with the phylogenetic structuration of C. cassiicola, suggesting that this small secreted toxin plays an important role in the evolution of the species. However, other pathogen effectors may be involved and the mechanisms ruling pathogenicity and host specificity are still poorly understood.The analysis of C. cassiicola genome will allow a more detailed investigation of the biology of the fungus in terms of effectors, nutrition mode, reproduction, in order to better understand it evolution and the genetic basis of disease emergence.Corynespora cassiicola was contributed to the 1KFG project by Francis Martin (INRA) and Valérie Pujade-Renaud (CIRAD).

山扁豆生棒孢（Corynespora cassiicola，Berk.& M. A. Curtis）是一种植物病原菌。该子囊菌（ascomycete）近年来在热带、亚热带区域的多种植物中引发了极具危害性的病害。橡胶树、大豆、番茄、黄瓜、可可、木薯以及诸多其他果蔬与观赏植物等重要作物均会受到其侵染。该菌通常被认为是死体营养型植物病原菌，但也有报道将其归类为内生菌（endophyte）或腐生菌（saprobe），此外还存在其侵染人类的相关报道。
截至目前，已报道的棒孢属（Corynespora）物种约有百余种，山扁豆生棒孢便是其中之一。在座囊菌纲（Dothideomycetes）的系统发育树中，山扁豆生棒孢与史密斯棒孢（C. smithi）共同构成格孢菌目（Pleosporales）中的一个外类群（outgroup），与当前已正式界定的其他科群均无明确的系统发育亲缘关系。
山扁豆生棒孢物种内部在遗传学与生物学层面均展现出丰富的多样性。一种被命名为橡胶树毒蛋白（cassiicolin）的小型分泌蛋白，被证实是侵染橡胶树的致病菌株的重要效应因子（effector）。橡胶树毒蛋白基因的多态性（polymorphism）与山扁豆生棒孢的系统发育结构高度一致，表明这种小型分泌毒素在该物种的演化过程中发挥了关键作用。不过该菌的致病过程可能还涉及其他效应因子，目前学界对其致病性与宿主特异性的调控机制仍知之甚少。
对山扁豆生棒孢基因组的解析，将有助于从效应因子、营养方式、繁殖模式等维度更深入地研究该真菌的生物学特性，从而更好地解析其演化历程以及病害暴发的遗传基础。
山扁豆生棒孢菌株由弗朗西斯·马丁（Francis Martin，法国国家农业食品与环境研究院INRA）与瓦莱丽·普雅德-勒诺（Valérie Pujade-Renaud，国际农业发展与研究中心CIRAD）提交至1KFG项目。