Genetic variation of the poplar rust fungus Melampsora larici-populina

Melampsora larici-populina is a fungal pathogen responsible for foliar rust disease on poplar trees causing important damages worldwide in plantations. The reference genome of isolate 98AG31 was previously sequenced by Sanger using a whole genome shotgun strategy revealing a genome of 101 megabases (US DOE Joint Genome Institute Mycocosm website). An Illumina-based resequencing approach was used to explore the genetic variation of the poplar rust fungus in 15 isolates presenting distinct virulence profiles collected in France and Belgium over the past 20 years.