Whole-genome comparisons of Penicillium spp. reveals secondary metabolic gene clusters and candidate genes associated with fungal aggressiveness during apple fruit decay

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1 Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
2 Food Quality Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America
3 Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Camden, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
4 Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, United States
5 Western Regional Research Center, USDA-ARS, Albany, California, United States of America
6 Plant pathology and environmental microbiology, Penn State University, Biglerville, Pennsylvania, USA
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.27430v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Agricultural Science, Genomics, Mycology, Plant Science
Keywords
Penicillium spp, Blue mold, pome fruit, comparative genomics, gene profiling
Licence
This is an open access article, free of all copyright, made available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. This work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
Cite this article
Wu G, Jurick II WM, Lichtner FJ, Peng H, Yin G, Gaskins VL, Yin Y, Hua S, Peter KA, Bennett JW. 2018. Whole-genome comparisons of Penicillium spp. reveals secondary metabolic gene clusters and candidate genes associated with fungal aggressiveness during apple fruit decay. PeerJ Preprints 6:e27430v1

Abstract

Blue mold is a postharvest rot of pomaceous fruits caused by Penicillium expansum and a number of other Penicillium species. The genome of the highly aggressive P. expansum strain R19 was re-sequenced and analyzed together with the genome of the less aggressive P. solitum strain RS1. Whole genome scale similarities and differences were examined. A phylogenetic analysis of P. expansum, P. solitum, and several closely related Penicillium species revealed that the two pathogens isolated from decayed apple with blue mold symptoms are not each other’s closest relatives. Among a total of 10,560 and 10,672 protein coding sequences respectively, a comparative genomics analysis revealed 41 genes in P. expansum R19 and 43 genes in P. solitum RS1 that are unique to these two species. These genes may be associated with pome fruit–fungal interactions, subsequent decay processes, and mycotoxin accumulation. An intact patulin gene cluster consisting of 15 biosynthetic genes was identified in the patulin producing P. expansum strain R19, while only a remnant, seven-gene cluster was identified in the patulin-deficient P. solitum strain. However, P. solitum contained a large number of additional secondary metabolite gene clusters indicating that this species has the potential capacity to produce an array of known, as well as not-yet-identified products, of possible toxicological or biotechnological interest.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ for review.

Supplemental Information

Gene clusters in P. expansum (R19) and P. solitum (RS1)

Gene cluster identities in Penicillium expansum and P. solitum

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.27430v1/supp-1