Metarhizium anisopliae exposed to an infection system triggering medium

This dataset is associated with a study on the horizontal transfer of transposable elements (TEs) mediated by "Starships", large mobile genetic elements found in fungi of the subphylum Pezizomycotina. Comparative genome analysis of two strains of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae revealed the introduction and subsequent expansion of 43 TEs in one strain, totaling 508 perfect copies, following the arrival of a Starship carrying 73 TEs. This expansion led to extensive structural genome rearrangements, including the formation of a new chromosome and a loss of pathogenicity, likely linked to the relocalization and reduced expression of virulence-related genes, such as the subtilisin-like protease PR1C. Analysis of 618 published Starships showed that most carry TEs, with many exhibiting evidence of horizontal transfer and subsequent expansion. These findings highlight Starships as key vectors for TE horizontal transfer in fungi. The proteomic data submitted here aim to complement the investigation of functional changes associated with the observed genome reorganization.