Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe
Invasive microbial species constitute a major threat to biodiversity, agricultural production and human health. Invasions are often dominated by one or a small number of genotypes, yet the underlying factors driving invasions are poorly understood. The chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2021-03-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/56279 |
| _version_ | 1811201700816486400 |
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| author | Lea Stauber Thomas Badet Alice Feurtey Simone Prospero Daniel Croll |
| author_facet | Lea Stauber Thomas Badet Alice Feurtey Simone Prospero Daniel Croll |
| author_sort | Lea Stauber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Invasive microbial species constitute a major threat to biodiversity, agricultural production and human health. Invasions are often dominated by one or a small number of genotypes, yet the underlying factors driving invasions are poorly understood. The chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica first decimated the North American chestnut, and a more recent outbreak threatens European chestnut stands. To unravel the chestnut blight invasion of southeastern Europe, we sequenced 230 genomes of predominantly European strains. Genotypes outside of the invasion zone showed high levels of diversity with evidence for frequent and ongoing recombination. The invasive lineage emerged from the highly diverse European genotype pool rather than a secondary introduction from Asia or North America. The expansion across southeastern Europe was mostly clonal and is dominated by a single mating type, suggesting a fitness advantage of asexual reproduction. Our findings show how an intermediary, highly diverse bridgehead population gave rise to an invasive, largely clonally expanding pathogen. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:26:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f790e11c806c43f5b7a5bed04db7f960 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:26:12Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-f790e11c806c43f5b7a5bed04db7f9602022-12-22T03:52:00ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2021-03-011010.7554/eLife.56279Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern EuropeLea Stauber0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8367-6150Thomas Badet1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6130-441XAlice Feurtey2Simone Prospero3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9129-8556Daniel Croll4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2072-380XSwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandLaboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandLaboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Plant Pathology, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandSwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandLaboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandInvasive microbial species constitute a major threat to biodiversity, agricultural production and human health. Invasions are often dominated by one or a small number of genotypes, yet the underlying factors driving invasions are poorly understood. The chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica first decimated the North American chestnut, and a more recent outbreak threatens European chestnut stands. To unravel the chestnut blight invasion of southeastern Europe, we sequenced 230 genomes of predominantly European strains. Genotypes outside of the invasion zone showed high levels of diversity with evidence for frequent and ongoing recombination. The invasive lineage emerged from the highly diverse European genotype pool rather than a secondary introduction from Asia or North America. The expansion across southeastern Europe was mostly clonal and is dominated by a single mating type, suggesting a fitness advantage of asexual reproduction. Our findings show how an intermediary, highly diverse bridgehead population gave rise to an invasive, largely clonally expanding pathogen.https://elifesciences.org/articles/56279Cryphonectria parasiticafungal pathogeninvasive speciespopulation genomics |
| spellingShingle | Lea Stauber Thomas Badet Alice Feurtey Simone Prospero Daniel Croll Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe eLife Cryphonectria parasitica fungal pathogen invasive species population genomics |
| title | Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe |
| title_full | Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe |
| title_fullStr | Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe |
| title_short | Emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern Europe |
| title_sort | emergence and diversification of a highly invasive chestnut pathogen lineage across southeastern europe |
| topic | Cryphonectria parasitica fungal pathogen invasive species population genomics |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/56279 |
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