Workshop Jan 6 - 8th 2016 - “Comparative genomic approaches to understanding the evolution of Magnaporthales”

Drs. Ning Zhang and Debashish Bhattacharya will host a workshop at Rutgers University,

 January 6 – 8, 2016 entitled 

“Comparative genomic approaches to understanding the evolution of Magnaporthales” 

Supported by the National Science Foundation and Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, this workshop will focus on improving the annotation of draft genomes of 5 fungal species in the order Magnaporthales (the rice stem rot fungus Nakataea oryzae = Magnaporthe salvinii; grass root-infecting Magnaporthiopsis rhizophila and Magnaporthiopsis incrustans; and saprotrophic, aquatic Ophioceras dolichostomum and Pseudohalonectria lignicola) coupled with a comparative analysis with the rice blast fungus and other pathogens in Magnaporthales.  In addition, we sequenced the transcriptomes of 21 taxa in the Magnaporthales (details in Luo et al. 2015. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS | 5 : 9448 | DOI: 10.1038/srep09448).  

The main goals of the workshop are to understand the evolution of pathogenicity, life style adaptation, and the evolution and putative functions of membrane associated proteins and transporters etc. This working group has the potential to make substantial discoveries using a genome wide approach.  The event will include BLAST and KEGG analysis to improve the gene models and to provide putative annotations for genes encoded in currently un-characterized regions of the genome, analysis of the functional categories listed above, short talks (15-20 min. each), and a final day to summarize and set future actions and timelines. We envision at least one major manuscript will be generated from the effort with all participants as co-authors, and concepts for other manuscripts and databases to be developed and shared during the workshop.  

Further Information to Follow

Statistics

Hi All-

The discussion on the rice blast fungus name continues but voting closed on September 30 (yesterday).  I post the statistics below for your information. 

Dear Marc Henri,

Please forward this message to J-L Nottéghem-

We all agree that widely used names should not be changed before careful evaluation and thorough discussion, and that is why we are here discussing this issue in the past several months. 

The reason that Magnaporthe is not the right generic name for the rice blast fungus is not because of the new nomenclature, but because recent analysis based on DNA sequences, morphological, and ecological characters all  indicate that the rice blast fungus is different from the true Magnaporthe--the rice stem rot fungus (M. salvinii).  Unless we conserve Magnaporthe for the rice blast fungus, a name change is needed.

Regarding the change of fungal nomenclature-

Izumi Chuma's slides for IRBC

Please VOTE NOW - update

Rice Blast Fungus Name -- Magnaporthe or Pyricularia?  (31 March 2013)

The asexual genus name Pyricularia has been used for the rice blast fungus since 1892.  Based on morphological similarity, the sexual state of the rice blast fungus was believed to belong to Magnaporthe, and was named as Magnaporthe oryzae in 2002.   However, recent phylogenetic analyses from different labs all demonstrated that the rice blast fungus does not belong to Magnaporthe.  Therefore, a name change is needed.  The new fungal nomenclature requires One Name for One Fungus, and the asexual state names are now treated equally as the sexual state names.  As the oldest and legitimate generic name for the rice blast fungus, Pyricularia has the priority.  However, because this fungus is a widely used model system and has large impacts, researchers from all over the world have been discussing this name issue since April 2012 in the CBS One Fungus, Which Name symposium at Amsterdam.  The most recent discuss was at the Asilomar Fungal Genetics Conference in March 2013.  A summary of the reasons for using Pyricularia vs. Magnaporthe is listed below.