Phytophthora effector target enrichment and sequencing to aid the re-annotation of genomes and to elucidate effector diversity
I. HEIN (1), G. Thilliez (2), K. Baker (2), D. Cooke (2), E. Huitema (3), P. Birch (4) (1) The James Hutton Institute, United Kingdom; (2) The James Hutton Institute, United Kingdom; (3) University of Dundee, United Kingdom; (4) The University of Dundee, United Kingdom

Phytophthora infestans and P. capsici cause significant losses in Solanaceae species such as potato and pepper, respectively. Interestingly, both pathogens can cause disease on the common hosts Nicotiana benthamiana and Solanum lycopersicum. The genomes of both oomycetes have been sequenced and RXLR and CRN-type effectors have been identified. We have designed an enrichment and sequencing platform to specifically determine the diversity of 1162 P. infestans and P. capsici genes that contain a signal peptide and include known avirulence genes. Utilising this approach on six isolates of each pathogen including the reference isolates T30-4 and LT1534, has revealed more than 30 potential additional RXLR effectors. Cross-hybridisation between P. infestans and P. capsici derived probes has been observed readily and confirmed that both oomycetes share homologous effectors. Using stringent mapping condition, the presence/absence variations of known RXLR-type AVR genes could quickly be determined. This approach provides a rapid and cost-effective means to study the diversity of secreted pathogen genes and can be adapted to include drug targets and genes that inform phylogeny and population structure.

Abstract Number: P11-361
Session Type: Poster