Population genomics of Xylaria necrophora, an emerging pathogen of soybean in the southern United States of America

The pathogen associated with taproot decline of soybean, Xylaria necrophora, was the subject of the current study. Diseased soybean collected in the region were processed to obtain pure cultures of the pathogen, along with historical specimens found in US herbaria and collected in a saprophytic lifestyle, from the 1920's to the 2010's, within and outside the known distribution of the pathogen. DNA sequences were obtained using paired-end Illumina sequencing and mapped to a reference genome (MSU_SB201401; project NPFG01) to obtain a SNP matrix. Our results highlight the genetic diversity and recombination strategies of this pathogen in the region.

本研究以与大豆主根衰退病相关的病原菌死体寄生炭角菌（Xylaria necrophora）为研究对象。从采集自该区域的发病大豆样本中分离获得该病原菌的纯培养物，同时收集了1920年代至2010年代期间，采自美国各标本馆的历史标本，以及该病原菌已知分布范围内外、以腐生生活方式生存的标本。本研究采用双端Illumina测序技术获取DNA序列，并将序列比对至参考基因组（MSU_SB201401；项目编号NPFG01），最终构建得到单核苷酸多态性（Single Nucleotide Polymorphism，SNP）矩阵。本研究结果揭示了该病原菌在该区域内的遗传多样性与重组策略。