Distinct genomic contexts predict gene presence-absence variation in different pathotypes of Magnaporthe oryzae

Fungi use the accessory gene content of their pangenomes to adapt to their environments. While gene presence-absence variation contributes to shaping accessory gene reservoirs, the genomic contexts that shape these events remain unclear. Since pangenome studies are typically species-wide and do not analyze different populations separately, it is yet to be uncovered whether presence-absence variation patterns and mechanisms are consistent across populations. Fungal plant pathogens are useful models for studying presence-absence variation because they rely on it to adapt to their hosts, and members of a species often infect distinct hosts. We analyzed gene presence-absence variation in the blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae (syn. Pyricularia oryzae), and found that presence-absence variation genes involved in host-pathogen and microbe-microbe interactions may drive the adaptation of the fungus to its environment. We then analyzed genomic and epigenomic features of presence-absence variation and observed that proximity to transposable elements, gene GC content, gene length, expression level in the host, and histone H3K27me3 marks were different between presence-absence variation genes and conserved genes. We used these features to construct a model that was able to predict whether a gene is likely to experience presence-absence variation with high precision (86.06%) and recall (92.88%) in M. oryzae. Finally, we found that presence-absence variation genes in the rice and wheat pathotypes of M. oryzae differed in their number and their genomic context. Our results suggest that genomic and epigenomic features of gene presence-absence variation can be used to better understand and predict fungal pangenome evolution. We also show that substantial intra-species variation can exist in these features.

A New Catalog of Structural Variants in 1,301 A. thaliana Lines from Africa, Eurasia, and North America Reveals a Signature of Balancing Selection at Defense Response Genes

Genomic variation in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has been extensively used to understand evolutionary processes in natural populations, mainly focusing on single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Conversely, structural variation has been largely ignored in spite of its potential to dramatically affect phenotype. Here, we identify 155,440 indels and structural variants ranging in size from 1 bp to 10 kb, including presence/absence variants (PAVs), inversions, and tandem duplications in 1,301 A. thaliana natural accessions from Morocco, Madeira, Europe, Asia, and North America. We show evidence for strong purifying selection on PAVs in genes, in particular for housekeeping genes and homeobox genes, and we find that PAVs are concentrated in defense-related genes (R-genes, secondary metabolites) and F-box genes. This implies the presence of a "core" genome underlying basic cellular processes and a "flexible" genome that includes genes that may be important in spatially or temporally varying selection. Further, we find an excess of intermediate frequency PAVs in defense response genes in nearly all populations studied, consistent with a history of balancing selection on this class of genes. Finally, we find that PAVs in genes involved in the cold requirement for flowering (vernalization) and drought response are strongly associated with temperature at the sites of origin.

Presence-absence variation in A. thaliana is primarily associated with genomic signatures consistent with relaxed selective constraints

The sequencing of multiple genomes of the same plant species has revealed polymorphic gene and exon loss. Genes associated with disease resistance are overrepresented among those showing structural variations, suggesting an adaptive role for gene and exon presence–absence variation (PAV). To shed light on the possible functional relevance of polymorphic coding region loss and the mechanisms driving this process, we characterized genes that have lost entire exons or their whole coding regions in 17 fully sequenced Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. We found that although a significant enrichment in genes associated with certain functional categories is observed, PAV events are largely restricted to genes with signatures of reduced essentiality: PAV genes tend to be newer additions to the genome, tissue specific, and lowly expressed. In addition, PAV genes are located in regions of lower gene density and higher transposable element density. Partial coding region PAV events were associated with only a marginal reduction in gene expression level in the affected accession and occurred in genes with higher levels of alternative splicing in the Col-0 accession. Together, these results suggest that although adaptive scenarios cannot be ruled out, PAV events can be explained without invoking them.