Abstract
Genome sequences of the soybean pathogen, Phytophthora sojae, and the
sudden oak death pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, suggest a photosynthetic past and reveal recent massive expansion and diversification of potential pathogenicity gene families.
Abstract: Draft genome sequences of the soybean pathogen, Phytophthora sojae, and the sudden oak death pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, have been determined. O嚙練ycetes such as these Phytophthora species share the kingdom Stramenopila with photosynthetic algae such as diatoms and the presence of many Phytophthora genes of probable phototroph origin support a photosynthetic ancestry for the stramenopiles. Comparison of the two species' genomes reveals a rapid expansion and diversification of many protein families associated with plant infection such as hydrolases, ABC transporters, protein toxins, proteinase inhibitors and, in particular, a superfamily of 700 proteins with similarity to known o嚙練ycete avirulence genes.