Brazil Embrapa discloses 2 new genomes of Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the cause of Asian rust

Date:04-19-2021

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) has released two new genomes of the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which causes Asian rust, according to the results of a survey conducted by a consortium between public and private companies. 

The disease is considered one of the worst in soybean crop in Brazil, causing losses of US$2.8 billion per crop, which can result in up to 80% of losses in a crop.

In the 2020-2021 harvest, no fewer than 375 occurrences have been recorded so far, according to official data. The novelty is that the international research consortium ASR Genome Consortium, formed by 12 research entities, has just made two new reference genomes of the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi publicly available.

The first genome was sequenced, assembled and made available to the scientific community in 2019. On the occasion, two other genomes obtained by partners were included in the Consortium. With the progress in consolidating data on the three genomes together, it will be possible to deepen the knowledge about the variability of the fungus and to know the organization of its genes at various levels.

It will be possible, for example, to identify shared and active genes during parasitism, evaluates researcher Francismar Marcelino Guimarães, from Embrapa Soja. "The information obtained from the three reference genomes allows for high data reliability, in addition to the immediate possibility of comparative studies at the genomic level," the researcher explained.

The results of the research will enable a greater understanding of what one can target in the fungus, at the level of its DNA, by a chemical product, or even the development of new solutions that act more assertively.

The reference genomes were collected in South America, a soybean-producing region affected by the high aggressiveness of soybean rust. “Access to this variability will broaden the understanding of the high adaptability and evolution of this fungus, helping to understand the mutations that have been happening in different crops and the process of resistance of these fungi to fungicides and also to the resistance genes present in soy,” he added.

The consortium is made up of public and private entities. Its partners include Bayer, the 2Blades Foundation, the Sainsbury Laboratory, the German Universities of Hohenheim and RWTH Aachen, the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRAE-France) and the University of Lorraine (France), in addition to the Joint Genome Institute (JGI, USA), Keygene, Syngenta and the Federal University of Viçosa (Brazil), and Embrapa.