Department of Entomology and Acarology, "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture (ESALQ/USP), Piracicaba 13418-900, Brazil.
Division of Biotechnology and Plant Health, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås 1431, Norway.
G3 (Bethesda). 2022 Feb 4;12(2). doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab416.
The genus Metarhizium is composed of species used in biological control programs of agricultural pests worldwide. This genus includes common fungal pathogen of many insects and mites and endophytes that can increase plant growth. Metarhizium humberi was recently described as a new species. This species is highly virulent against some insect pests and promotes growth in sugarcane, strawberry, and soybean crops. In this study, we sequenced the genome of M. humberi, isolate ESALQ1638, and performed a functional analysis to determine its genomic signatures and highlight the genes and biological processes associated with its lifestyle. The genome annotation predicted 10633 genes in M. humberi, of which 92.0% are assigned putative functions, and ∼17% of the genome was annotated as repetitive sequences. We found that 18.5% of the M. humberi genome is similar to experimentally validated proteins associated with pathogen-host interaction. Compared to the genomes of eight Metarhizium species, the M. humberi ESALQ1638 genome revealed some unique traits that stood out, e.g., more genes functionally annotated as polyketide synthases (PKSs), overrepresended GO-terms associated to transport of ions, organic and amino acid, a higher percentage of repetitive elements, and higher levels of RIP-induced point mutations. The M. humberi genome will serve as a resource for promoting studies on genome structure and evolution that can contribute to research on biological control and plant biostimulation. Thus, the genomic data supported the broad host range of this species within the generalist PARB clade and suggested that M. humberi ESALQ1638 might be particularly good at producing secondary metabolites and might be more efficient in transporting amino acids and organic compounds.
厚垣轮枝菌属由在全球农业害虫生物防治计划中使用的物种组成。该属包括许多昆虫和螨虫的常见真菌病原体以及可以促进植物生长的内生菌。最近，厚垣轮枝菌被描述为一个新物种。该物种对一些农业害虫具有高度毒性，并能促进甘蔗、草莓和大豆作物的生长。在这项研究中，我们对 M. humberi 的 ESALQ1638 进行了基因组测序和功能分析，以确定其基因组特征，并突出与生活方式相关的基因和生物学过程。基因组注释预测 M. humberi 中有 10633 个基因，其中 92.0%具有假定功能，约 17%的基因组被注释为重复序列。我们发现，M. humberi 基因组的 18.5%与实验验证的与病原体-宿主相互作用相关的蛋白质相似。与 8 种厚垣轮枝菌的基因组相比，M. humberi ESALQ1638 基因组显示出一些独特的特征，例如，更多的基因被功能注释为聚酮合酶（PKSs），与离子、有机和氨基酸运输相关的 GO 术语过表达，重复元件的比例更高，以及 RIP 诱导点突变的水平更高。M. humberi 基因组将作为促进基因组结构和进化研究的资源，这有助于生物防治和植物生物刺激的研究。因此，基因组数据支持了该物种在一般 PARB 分支中的广泛宿主范围，并表明 M. humberi ESALQ1638 可能特别擅长产生次生代谢物，并且在运输氨基酸和有机化合物方面可能更有效。
