Coniothyrium minitans project

Paraconiothyrium minitans is a naturally occurring soil fungus found in diverse agricultural environments. P. minitans spores have been reported to remain dormant in the soil until there is recognition of sclerotial bodies of the plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and will subsequently undergo germination and colonisation. Previous studies have shown that P. minitans have no known effects on surrounding microbial populations in the soil nor does it behave as a saprotroph. Due to this, it has been described as an ecologically obligate mycoparasite. Mycoparasitism of S. sclerotiorum occurs mainly via sclerotial colonisation by P. minitans, however, hyphal-hyphal interactions have also been documented. The establishment of a reference genome of P. minitans will be instrumental in gaining novel insights into its molecular mode of action as a mycoparasite and the ecological competence as a biocontrol agent. Additionally, this resource will enable further research into enhancing its performance as a bio-fungicidal product. The P. minitans genome assembly size is ~ 47.9 Mb.