The genome sequence of the model ascomycete fungus Podospora anserina

Eric Espagne^*¹^,2, Olivier Lespinet^*¹^,2, Fabienne Malagnac^*¹^,2^,3, Corinne Da Silva⁴, Olivier Jaillon⁴, Betina M Porcel⁴, Arnaud Couloux⁴, Jean-Marc Aury⁴, Béatrice Ségurens⁴, Julie Poulain⁴, Véronique Anthouard⁴, Sandrine Grossetete¹^,2, Hamid Khalili¹^,2, Evelyne Coppin¹^,2, Michelle Déquard-Chablat¹^,2, Marguerite Picard¹^,2, Véronique Contamine¹^,2, Sylvie Arnaise¹^,2, Anne Bourdais¹^,2, Véronique Berteaux-Lecellier¹^,2, Daniel Gautheret¹^,2, Ronald P de Vries⁵, Evy Battaglia⁵, Pedro M Coutinho⁶, Etienne GJ Danchin⁶, Bernard Henrissat⁶, Riyad EL Khoury⁷, Annie Sainsard-Chanet⁷^,8, Antoine Boivin⁷^,8, Bérangère Pinan-Lucarré⁹, Carole H Sellem⁷, Robert Debuchy¹^,2, Patrick Wincker⁴, Jean Weissenbach⁴ and Philippe Silar¹^,2^,3

¹Univ Paris-Sud, Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, UMR8621, 91405 Orsay cedex, France

²CNRS, Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, UMR8621, 91405 Orsay cedex, France

³UFR de Biochimie, Université de Paris 7 - Denis Diderot, case 7006, place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

⁴Genoscope (CEA) and UMR 8030 CNRS-Genoscope-Université d'Evry, rue Gaston Crémieux CP5706, 91057 Evry, France

⁵Microbiology, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padulaan, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands

⁶UMR 6098, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolecules Biologiques, CNRS/univ. Aix-Marseille I et II, Marseille, France

⁷CNRS, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 2167, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

⁸Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405, France

⁹Institut de Biochimie et de Génétique Cellulaires, UMR 5095 CNRS/Université de Bordeaux 2, rue Camille St. Saëns, 33077 Bordeaux Cedex, France

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

Genome Biology 2008, 9:R77doi:10.1186/gb-2008-9-5-r77


Published:	6 May 2008

Subject areas: Evolution, Genome studies, Microbiology and parasitology

Abstract

Background

The dung-inhabiting ascomycete fungus Podospora anserina is a model used to study various aspects of eukaryotic and fungal biology, such as ageing, prions and sexual development.

Results

We present a 10X draft sequence of P. anserina genome, linked to the sequences of a large expressed sequence tag collection. Similar to higher eukaryotes, the P. anserina transcription/splicing machinery generates numerous non-conventional transcripts. Comparison of the P. anserina genome and orthologous gene set with the one of its close relatives, Neurospora crassa, shows that synteny is poorly conserved, the main result of evolution being gene shuffling in the same chromosome. The P. anserina genome contains fewer repeated sequences and has evolved new genes by duplication since its separation from N. crassa, despite the presence of the repeat induced point mutation mechanism that mutates duplicated sequences. We also provide evidence that frequent gene loss took place in the lineages leading to P. anserina and N. crassa. P. anserina contains a large and highly specialized set of genes involved in utilization of natural carbon sources commonly found in its natural biotope. It includes genes potentially involved in lignin degradation and efficient cellulose breakdown.

Conclusion

The features of the P. anserina genome indicate a highly dynamic evolution since the divergence of P. anserina and N. crassa, leading to the ability of the former to use specific complex carbon sources that match its needs in its natural biotope.