The genome of Ustilago esculenta

Ustilago esculenta is a biotrophic basidiomycete fungus that infects the only host, Zizania latifolia. The artificial selection keeps the balance of Ustilago – Zizania interaction complex, which incites gall formation. The developed gall structure is a highly nutritious and popular vegetable in Southeast Asia.U. esculenta spends its entire life cycle in the host plant and prevents the host from inflorescence making the host propagate exclusively asexually using the rhizome in the field without symptoms of chlorosis or necrosis. In this study, we want to get the complete genome sequence and annotation of U. esculenta. We also want to know the pressure of artificial selection varied expression levels of genes by RNA-seq transcriptomic analysis. The elucidation of U. esculenta genomic information as well as expression profiles can not only contribute to more comprehensive insights to smut fungi-host interactions but also underlie the artificial selection molecular mechanism.