ArticleNature communications2025
Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in a fungal plant pathogen and drive virulence evolution.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Helitrons are enriched in lichenized fungi with long generation lengths and small distribution sizes.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Fungal Starship transposons for interspecies gene transfer.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Article
- Fungal DNA damage repair: from model to driver of virulence and AMR.Bioscience reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Microsatellite Markers Display High Diversity in Bean Anthracnose Pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum in Kashmir.Biochemical genetics · 2026Article
- Accessory regions and horizontal gene transfer shape the evolution of clonal Colletotrichum nymphaeae infecting strawberry.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- A structurally unique effector shared between vascular wilt fungi drives cotton and olive defoliation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Plant-associated fungi co-opt ancient antimicrobials for host manipulation.Science advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Emerging insights into plant disease management: multi-omics approaches elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogen virulence differentiation in natural populations.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Transposable elements hitchhike on Starships across fungal genomes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cross-talk within plant niches: endophytic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for sustainable crop production.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- Undermining the cry for help: the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae secretes an antimicrobial effector protein to undermine host recruitment of antagonistic Pseudomonas bacteria.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Biodiversity-Driven Natural Products and Bioactive Metabolites.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Genomic Insights into Historical Adaptation of Three Key Fungal Plant Pathogens.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Are Fungal Disease Outbreaks Instigated by Starship Transposons?Molecular plant pathology · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Starships form a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposons in Pezizomycotina fungi, implicated in mediating horizontal transfer of diverse cargo genes between fungal genomes. Their elusive nature has long obscured their significance, and their impact on genome evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal a surprising abundance and diversity of Starships in the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae. Remarkably, Starships dominate the plastic genomic compartments involved in host colonization, carry multiple virulence-associated genes, and exhibit genetic and epigenetic characteristics associated with adaptive genome evolution. Phylogenetic analyses suggest extensive horizontal transfer of Starships between Verticillium species and, strikingly, from distantly related Fusarium fungi. Finally, homology searches and phylogenetic analyses suggest that a Starship contributed to de novo virulence gene formation. Our findings illuminate the profound influence of Starship dynamics on fungal genome evolution and the development of virulence.
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