Global Verticillium dahliae Genomics Research: Verticilli-Omics. Verticillium dahliae

Verticilli-Omics: an extension of the cooperation initially between the Institute Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, P.R. China (IPP-CAAS) and the Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis (DPP-UCD), now include 16 organizations to participate in the ongoing research project.Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne ascomycete that causes Verticillium wilt in over 200 plant species, including many important crops and causes billions of dollars in agricultural losses annually. V. dahliae is known as an asexually reproducing organism but also has abundant population (clonal lineages) divergence. Few studies have investigated adequate number of strains representing extensive population divergence. In this project, we integrated strains from collaborating laboratories to select 159 strains from 10 counties (Australia, Chile, China, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Turkey, and USA) and 26 host plants (almond, amaranthus, aralia, artichoke, bell pepper, cabbage, cantaloupe, cotton, eggplant, guar, horseradish, lettuce, maple, mint, napa cabbage, olive, papaver, pepper, potato, purselane, spinach seed, strawberry, tomato, watermelon, smoke tree, and sunflower) that represents the genetic diversity of all seven lineages, races, pathotypes, mating-types, and obtained the whole genome sequences of these strains. Moreover, more than 3000 strains from these countries and host plants were collected for the whole genome re-resequencing. The project will confirm whether the evolution of lineages is mediated by chromosomal rearrangements or other mechanisms, uncover the relationship between lineage divergence and population structure involving races, pathotypes, and mating-types, and demonstrate the genetic variation of sex-related genes and the evolution of life cycle (sexual-asexual), illustrate the genomic basis of host adaptation and worldwide distribution of different V. dahliae lineages, develop the molecular markers for detecting and monitoring the distribution/prevalence. The project also envisages to decipher a number of questions associated with the biology of the pathogen and the disease it causes. Together, this project will promote us to understand the genetic basis and extensive prevalence of V. dahliae in worldwide, and to monitor/control of Verticillium wilt in field.Therefore, the overarching goal of Verticilli-Omics project is to uncover the evolutionary basis of V. dahliae lineages and the genomic basis of extensive host adaptations, to get a better understanding of evolution in V. dahliae and mechanisms of pandemics, and finally provide the theoretical support for the V. dahliae management and technology research. The specific objectives are as follows:1. Uncover the basis of the emergence of lineages and evolution in Verticillium dahliae, and define the relationship between lineages and races, pathotypes, VCGs, etc.2. Analyze the relationship between the lineage divergence and the life cycle (sexual-asexual) evolution by the genetic variation of sex-related genes.3. Illuminate the genomic basis of the extensive host adaptations by a combination of functional comparative genomics and identification of crucial functional genes.4. Provide the theoretical basis and technology for studying the lineage evolution, distribution, and prevention of Verticillium wilt in China and the world.