Photos by Louis Bernier (left: Elm killed by Dutch Elm Disease), Dian-Qing Yang (top right: O. novo-ulmi colony on plate) and Karine Plourde (bottom right: synnema, a large, erect reproductive structure bearing compact conidiophores).

The genome of Ophiostoma novo-ulmi subspecies novo-ulmi strain H327 was sequenced across five genomic core facilities, as part of a study by the DNA Sequencing Research Group (DSRG) of the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF). The genome sequence (Forgetta et al. 2013) and gene predictions (Comeau et al. 2015) have been published and were imported into MycoCosm  in order to allow comparative analyses with other fungi.

Ophiostoma novo-ulmi is an aggressive vascular pathogen which is responsible for the current, highly destructive, pandemic of Dutch elm disease (Brasier, 1991). Within a few decades, it has taken over the less aggressive O. ulmi which caused the first pandemic of the disease. Ophiostoma novo-ulmi exhibits yeast-mycelium dimorphism, is easily grown in the laboratory and is amenable to standard genetic and molecular investigations (Bernier, 2016). This plant pathogen belongs to the order Ophiostomatales which also includes several wood-associated saprobes, as well as pathogens of humans and animals such as Sporothrix schenckii.

References:

• Bernier, L. 2016. Genome-wide analysis of parasitic fitness traits in a non-model tree pathogen. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology 38: 153–163.
• Brasier, C.M. 1991. Ophiostoma novo-ulmi sp. nov., causative agent of current Dutch elm disease pandemics. Mycopathologia 115:151–161.
• Comeau A.M. et al. 2015. Functional annotation of the Ophiostoma novo-ulmi genome: Insights into the phytopathogenicity of the fungal agent of Dutch elm disease. Genome Biology and Evolution 7: 410-430.
• Forgetta, V. et al. 2013. Sequencing of the Dutch elm disease fungus genome using the Roche/454 GS-FLX Titanium system in a comparison of multiple genomics core facilities. Journal of Biomolecular Techniques 24:39-49.