#16 · Genomics

Pangenomes and effector repertoires map virulence genes in fungal and bacterial pathogens

The dominant thread is large-scale comparative genomics of plant pathogens. Pangenome analysis of 19 Bipolaris sorokiniana genomes identifies an open pangenome of 16,981 orthogroups, with gene loss exceeding gene expansion, and integrates systems-level analyses to relate genomic content to virulence and adaptation. A parallel study of 1,037 Xanthomonas genomes examines type III effector repertoires in bacterial spot pathogens of pepper and tomato, separating conserved effectors from variable, allelically diverse members. The third item differs in method: DigiAra, an AI framework, simulates transcriptional responses to Arabidopsis gene perturbations and microbial infection to score and screen candidate knockouts for resistance. Taken together, the items pair pathogen genome-content analysis with a computational host-side screen, though they do not test a direct link between the two.