Genome Sequencing and Comparative Transcriptomics of Race1 and Race4 of Banana pathogen: F. oxysporum f.sp. cubense

Fusarium oxysporum (FO) is a ubiquitous soil-borne fungus that includes pathogenic and non-pathogenic members. The pathogenic members are best known for causing Fusarium wilt diseases of many economically important agricultural crops. One such a crop is banana (Musa spp.), which is affected by a special form of the fungus known as F. oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc). Previous studies have investigated the phenotypic and genotypic diversity and pathogenicity of F. oxysporum, however, the sophisticated molecular mechanisms implicated in the host specific invasion events are still poorly understood. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed the genome of the banana pathogen fungus Foc1 and Foc4, present the comparative genomics analysis of these two races of Foc together with F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol), and screened out a list of genes characterized the difference between Foc1 and Foc4, which have a potential association with cultivar-specific pathogenicity and may underlie the wider host range of Foc4. We further investigated the transcriptome expression profiles of Foc1 and Foc4 before and after infecting the Cavendish varieties, so as to uncover the genetic basis of host specificity (formae speciales) and cultivar specificity (pathogenic races) of Foc.