Revealing the high variability on nonconserved core and mobile elements of Austropuccinia psidii and other rust mitochondrial genomes

Author(s)

de Almeida, Jaqueline Raquel ^[1] ; Riano Pachon, Diego Mauricio ^[2] ; Franceschini, Livia Maria ^[1] ; dos Santos, Isaneli Batista ^[1] ; Ferrarezi, Jessica Aparecida ^[1] ; Maia de Andrade, Pedro Avelino ^[1] ; Monteiro-Vitorello, Claudia Barros ^[1] ; Labate, Carlos Alberto ^[1] ; Quecine, Maria Carolina ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr ESALQ, Dept Genet, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Nucl Energy Agr CENA, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PLoS One; v. 16, n. 3 MAR 11 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Mitochondrial genomes are highly conserved in many fungal groups, and they can help characterize the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary biology of plant pathogenic fungi. Rust fungi are among the most devastating diseases for economically important crops around the world. Here, we report the complete sequence and annotation of the mitochondrial genome of Austropuccinia psidii (syn. Puccinia psidii), the causal agent of myrtle rust. We performed a phylogenomic analysis including the complete mitochondrial sequences from other rust fungi. The genome composed of 93.299 bp has 73 predicted genes, 33 of which encoded nonconserved proteins (ncORFs), representing almost 45% of all predicted genes. A. psidii mtDNA is one of the largest rust mtDNA sequenced to date, most likely due to the abundance of ncORFs. Among them, 33% were within intronic regions of diverse intron groups. Mobile genetic elements invading intron sequences may have played significant roles in size but not shaping of the rust mitochondrial genome structure. The mtDNAs from rust fungi are highly syntenic. Phylogenetic inferences with 14 concatenated mitochondrial proteins encoded by the core genes placed A. psidii according to phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rDNA. Interestingly, cox1, the gene with the greatest number of introns, provided phylogenies not congruent with the core set. For the first time, we identified the proteins encoded by three A. psidii ncORFs using proteomics analyses. Also, the orf208 encoded a transmembrane protein repressed during in vitro morphogenesis. To the best of our knowledge, we presented the first report of a complete mtDNA sequence of a member of the family Sphaerophragmiacea. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/16804-4 - Deciphering the molecular interaction between Puccinia psidii x Eucalyptus grandis through "omics" approaches
• Grantee: Maria Carolina Quecine Verdi
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/16868-8 - Modulation of the interaction among growth promoting bacteria and corn by the quorum sensing system
• Grantee: Jaqueline Raquel de Almeida
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master