Genome Sequencing and Analysis of Phomopsis longicolla Isolate MSPL 10-6 Causing Phomopsis Seed Decay in Soybean

Phomopsis seed decay of soybean is caused primarily by the seed-borne fungal pathogen Phomopsis longicolla (syn. Diaporthe longicolla). This disease causes poor seed quality, reduces seedling vigor and stand establishment, and suppresses yield in most soybean production regions, especially in southern regions of the United States. To facilitate investigation of the genetic base of fungal virulence factors and to understand the mechanism of the disease development, we sequenced and de novo assembled the genome of a P. longicolla isolate MSPL10-6, which was isolated from field-grown soybean seed in Mississippi, USA. The genome of MSPL 10-6 was estimated to be approximately 62 Mb in size with an overall G+C content of 48.6 %. Gene prediction analysis identified a total of 15,738 predicted protein-coding regions. Predicted gene models were annotated using blastp against the UniRed100 database. A total of 8,868 (56%) of the gene models had significant matches (E value ≤ 1e^-5) to genes in the database. The P. longicolla genome sequence provides resources for developing molecular markers to study the genetic variability of P. longicolla. It is valuable for identifying genes associated with fungal growth and pathogenicity, and aids in development of new control strategies for this pathogen.