Pangenome of long-read sequenced isolates of globally sampled M. brunneum. Metarhizium brunneum pangenome

Metarhizium brunneum is plant-rhizosphere competent fungus with a very wide and near global distribution, which also has the capacity to infect insects. Specific isolates of this fungus are commercially used as biological control agents for controlling pest insects. Here, long-read sequencing is used to assemble multiple independent genomes that are further analysed together to construct a pangenome of M. brunneum. Pangenomes not only hold isolate-specific genome information, but also contains information on intra-specific variation, which is of high interest in M. brunneum because of its wide geographical distribution and versatile capacity for forming plant and insect associations.