Understanding how molecular changes underlie phenotypic variation within and between species is o... more Understanding how molecular changes underlie phenotypic variation within and between species is one of the main goals of evolutionary biology and comparative genetics. The recent proliferation of sequenced fungal genomes offers a unique opportunity to start elucidating the extreme phenotypic diversity in the Kingdom Fungi.1-4 We attempted to investigate the contribution of gene families to the evolutionary forces shaping the diversity of pathogenic lifestyles among the fungi.5 We studied a family of secreted enzymes which is present and expanded in all genomes of fungal pathogens sequenced to date and absent from the genomes of true yeasts.3,4 This family of cutinases6 predates the division between the two major fungal phyla, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.5 We discuss our molecular phylogenetic analyses, the number and sequence diversity, and gene gains and losses of cutinase family members between five Ascomycetes: the phytopathogens Magnaporthe oryzae, Fusarium graminearum and Botr...
Of the various crop pests and pathogens which blight our harvests, it is the fungi and oomycetes ... more Of the various crop pests and pathogens which blight our harvests, it is the fungi and oomycetes which are the most widely-dispersed groups and which lead the global invasion of agriculture. Here, we highlight the rapid growth in fungal and oomycete disease incidence and spread across the globe. We draw attention to the need for improved disease surveillance and for more sustainable agricultural intensification and consider the economic and humanitarian costs of fungal and oomycete diseases.
... refereed research Meeting report Pathogens: the plight of plants Catherine Henderson, Susanna... more ... refereed research Meeting report Pathogens: the plight of plants Catherine Henderson, SusannahLee and Sarah Jane Gurr Address: Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK. Correspondence: Catherine Henderson. ...
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2002
... 36 A Step Down PCR-Based Technique for Walking Into and the Subsequent Direct-Sequence Anal... more ... 36 A Step Down PCR-Based Technique for Walking Into and the Subsequent Direct-Sequence Analysis of Flanking Genomic DNA Ziguo Zhang and Sarah Jane Gurr ... 5. Use 1 μL of each diluted ligation mix to set the first round PCR amplification reaction. 3.2. ...
Peptide sequence data derived from a plant annexin, P34 [Smallwood, Keen & Bowles (1990) Biochem.... more Peptide sequence data derived from a plant annexin, P34 [Smallwood, Keen & Bowles (1990) Biochem. J. 270, 157-161] was used to design amplimers for PCR. A unique fragment of 95 bp, amplified from tomato (Lycopersicon esculertum) genomic DNA, was used in Northern analyses and demonstrated a differential pattern of expression in vegetative tissues of tomato, potato (Solanum tuberosum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). The tissue-specific abundance of the annexin transcript was found to correlate closely with abundance of annexin protein as revealed by their partial purification and analysis with antisera specific for annexins isolated from tomato suspension-culture cells.
... EMILY PRYCE-JONES a , TIM CARVER b and SARAH J. GURR a , f1. ... 1327. 6. FM Dewey, MI Thurs... more ... EMILY PRYCE-JONES a , TIM CARVER b and SARAH J. GURR a , f1. ... 1327. 6. FM Dewey, MI Thurston and QCB Cronk, Monoclonal antibodies that differentiate between gum arabic, gum seyal and combretum gum. Food and Agricultural Immunology 9 (1997), pp. 123134. ...
Huge numbers of filamentous fungi spend at least part of their lives on the subter-ranean or aeri... more Huge numbers of filamentous fungi spend at least part of their lives on the subter-ranean or aerial surfaces of the myriad plant species in existence. Almost nothing is known about most of these relationships, and little is known about the majority of the remainder. Here, ...
Understanding how molecular changes underlie phenotypic variation within and between species is o... more Understanding how molecular changes underlie phenotypic variation within and between species is one of the main goals of evolutionary biology and comparative genetics. The recent proliferation of sequenced fungal genomes offers a unique opportunity to start elucidating the extreme phenotypic diversity in the Kingdom Fungi.1-4 We attempted to investigate the contribution of gene families to the evolutionary forces shaping the diversity of pathogenic lifestyles among the fungi.5 We studied a family of secreted enzymes which is present and expanded in all genomes of fungal pathogens sequenced to date and absent from the genomes of true yeasts.3,4 This family of cutinases6 predates the division between the two major fungal phyla, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.5 We discuss our molecular phylogenetic analyses, the number and sequence diversity, and gene gains and losses of cutinase family members between five Ascomycetes: the phytopathogens Magnaporthe oryzae, Fusarium graminearum and Botr...
Of the various crop pests and pathogens which blight our harvests, it is the fungi and oomycetes ... more Of the various crop pests and pathogens which blight our harvests, it is the fungi and oomycetes which are the most widely-dispersed groups and which lead the global invasion of agriculture. Here, we highlight the rapid growth in fungal and oomycete disease incidence and spread across the globe. We draw attention to the need for improved disease surveillance and for more sustainable agricultural intensification and consider the economic and humanitarian costs of fungal and oomycete diseases.
... refereed research Meeting report Pathogens: the plight of plants Catherine Henderson, Susanna... more ... refereed research Meeting report Pathogens: the plight of plants Catherine Henderson, SusannahLee and Sarah Jane Gurr Address: Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK. Correspondence: Catherine Henderson. ...
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2002
... 36 A Step Down PCR-Based Technique for Walking Into and the Subsequent Direct-Sequence Anal... more ... 36 A Step Down PCR-Based Technique for Walking Into and the Subsequent Direct-Sequence Analysis of Flanking Genomic DNA Ziguo Zhang and Sarah Jane Gurr ... 5. Use 1 μL of each diluted ligation mix to set the first round PCR amplification reaction. 3.2. ...
Peptide sequence data derived from a plant annexin, P34 [Smallwood, Keen & Bowles (1990) Biochem.... more Peptide sequence data derived from a plant annexin, P34 [Smallwood, Keen & Bowles (1990) Biochem. J. 270, 157-161] was used to design amplimers for PCR. A unique fragment of 95 bp, amplified from tomato (Lycopersicon esculertum) genomic DNA, was used in Northern analyses and demonstrated a differential pattern of expression in vegetative tissues of tomato, potato (Solanum tuberosum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). The tissue-specific abundance of the annexin transcript was found to correlate closely with abundance of annexin protein as revealed by their partial purification and analysis with antisera specific for annexins isolated from tomato suspension-culture cells.
... EMILY PRYCE-JONES a , TIM CARVER b and SARAH J. GURR a , f1. ... 1327. 6. FM Dewey, MI Thurs... more ... EMILY PRYCE-JONES a , TIM CARVER b and SARAH J. GURR a , f1. ... 1327. 6. FM Dewey, MI Thurston and QCB Cronk, Monoclonal antibodies that differentiate between gum arabic, gum seyal and combretum gum. Food and Agricultural Immunology 9 (1997), pp. 123134. ...
Huge numbers of filamentous fungi spend at least part of their lives on the subter-ranean or aeri... more Huge numbers of filamentous fungi spend at least part of their lives on the subter-ranean or aerial surfaces of the myriad plant species in existence. Almost nothing is known about most of these relationships, and little is known about the majority of the remainder. Here, ...
The invasive pathogen, ash dieback fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, is spreading rapidly across Eu... more The invasive pathogen, ash dieback fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, is spreading rapidly across Europe. It shows high levels of outcrossing and limited population structure, even at the epidemic front. The anamorphic (asexual) form produces prolific conidia, thought to function solely as spermatia (male gametes), facilitating gene flow between sympatric strains. Here, we show that conidia are capable of germination on ash leaves and in vitro, and can infect seedlings via leaves or soil. In leaves, germlings form structures resembling fruiting bodies. Additionally, H. fraxineus colonises ash debris and grows in soil in the absence of ash tissues. We propose an amended life-cycle in which wind-dispersed, insect-vectored or water-spread conidia infect ash and may sporulate in planta, as well as in forest debris. This amplifies inoculum levels of different strains in ash stands. In combination with their function as spermatia, conidia thus act to maximise gene flow between sympatric strains, including those originally present at low inoculum. Such mixing increases evolutionary potential, as well as enhancing the likelihood of gene introgression from closely-related strains or assimilation of further genetic diversity from parental Asian populations. This scenario increases the adaptability of H. fraxineus to new climates and, indeed, onto new host species. The ascomycete fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus 1 is the causal agent of ash dieback 2. This disease is currently destroying ash trees across Europe 3–5. First observed in Poland in 1992 3 , it has now spread to more than 25 European countries 6. This pathogen is aggressive 7 , causing leaf necrosis, premature leaf drop, shoot wilting and crown dieback, as well as necrotic lesions on petioles, stems and root collars 7. Mortality is high in infected seedlings , whilst older trees develop chronic infections which are often eventually fatal (e.g. ref. 8). The loss of trees has a significant ecological and economic impact 9 , as ash is an important tree of mature woodland and hedgerows, as well as yielding commercial timber 10,11. Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is pleiomorphic; the anamorph (previously Chalara fraxinea 12) produces prolific asexual spores 13,14. However, these conidia have not been thought to have a role in the spread of the fungus, being described as " sticky " 3,15 and unlikely to become airborne. They are instead assumed to act as spermatia 13,16 during ascospore formation by the teleomorph (previously H. pseudoalbidus 17). This hypothesis is supported by the discovery that ascospores derived from individual apothecia show levels of genetic polymorphism indicative of multiple mating partners 13,14 and by the observation that the anamorph sporulates at the edge of the pseudoscle-rotial plate from which the apothecia emerge 18. Evidence suggests that sexual reproduction is of key importance the spread of H. fraxineus, a heterothallic fungus 13. Population genetic studies have found high intra-population variability, along with little inter-population variability 19 and a lack of population genetic structure 14,20–24 across the entire continent of Europe. These data indicate high gene flow between populations, consistent with a high rate of outcrossing 14. Indeed, while clear evidence of a founder effect can be seen when comparing the genotypes of the invasive pathogen populations in Europe with the much more variable genotypes displayed by native H. fraxineus populations in Asia, no such founder effect has been detected in the study of newly-discovered populations at the epidemic front 19. The closely-related species, Hymenoscyphus albidus, a non-pathogenic saprophyte on ash debris 25,26 , is being displaced
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