Change, exchange and adaptation. Accessory genome evolution in Fusarium oxysporum

Summary

Fungal plant pathogens pose a major threat to global food security. Plants and pathogens are locked in constant battles. While plants evolve strategies to prevent disease, fungi adapt to overcome those plant defences. Many fungal pathogens have developed a powerful strategy to sustain this battle: rapidly changing genomic regions that can be exchanged between individuals, helping them to rapidly adapt; socalled accessory regions. In my thesis, I analyze these accessory regions in the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum, an important pathogen that can infect a variety of economically relevant crops including banana, an essential crop in tropical- and sub-tropical regions. We identified various accessory regions associated with pathogenicity and describe their evolutionary dynamics. Through this research, we gained important insights into how fungal plant pathogens evolve and adapt. This knowledge can help to improve breeding strategies and aid crop protection.