Research progress on genome sequencing and analysis of nematophagous fungi

Abstract:

Nematophagous fungi (NTF) serve as natural enemies of nematodes, which are potential biocontrol agents for plant-parasitic nematodes. NTF can attack and kill nematodes through producing specialized capturing devices, adhesive conidia or toxins. In recent years, with the advances in sequencing technology and the application of bioinformatics, more and more fungal genomes have been sequenced and reported. At present, genomes of seven NTF, including the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora, the egg and cyst-parasitic fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia and the endoparasitic fungus Hirsutella minnesotensis, etc., have been sequenced and reported. In this paper, the genomic characteristics, the expansion of virulence-related gene families, the regulation of trap formation and evolution of NTF were systematically summarized, and key problems of NTF in the omics era were reviewed.