Photo credit: Manuel Alfaro, at Public University of Navarre

Elsinoë ampelina belongs to family Elsinoaceae (order Myriangiales); only another fungus belonging to this family (E. phaseoli) has been proposed to be sequenced by JGI and no other sequences are available. The order Myriangiales includes saprotrophic, epiphytic and biotrophic species, such as the insect parasitic Myriangium duriaei already sequenced by JGI.

E. ampelina is a plant pathogenic fungus that causes anthracnose on grape, and can be found throughout the world wherever grapes are grown, leading to large economic losses. Some Elsinoë species show proteolytic, pectolytic and cellulolytic extracellular activities. It is also known that the invasion process of species from this genus into the plant involves degradation of cell walls by extracellular enzymes near the penetrating hyphae.

The life cycle of E. ampelina involves sclerotia as overwintering structures on infected tissues. In the spring, sclerotia produce conidia that are spread to other plant tissues and germinate causing infection.  Once the disease is established, conidia form on acervuli inside necrotic areas. Furthermore, in these infected tissues fruiting bodies form asci and ascospores.

The genome sequence of this fungus will shed light into the plant cell wall degradation during hyphae penetration, identifying potentially useful enzymes for alternative fuel production from lignocellulose substrates. Comparative genomics of E. ampelina and the insect parasitic M. duriaei will contribute to uncover the genomic features underlying the evolution to diverse lifestyles in the context of the 1000 genomes initiative.