Jana Sperschneider

Rust fungi secretomes contain structurally diverse effector families including cysteine-rich metal-binding proteins

This study uses AlphaFold2 to analyze the structural diversity of effector proteins in rust fungi secretomes, identifying structurally related clusters and metal-binding effector candidates.

Zinc coordination by the wheat rust effector AvrSr33 provides a structural scaffold required for immune recognition

The paper investigates the structural role of zinc coordination in the wheat rust effector AvrSr33, showing it provides a scaffold necessary for immune recognition by Sr33.

Haplotype-phased genomes of the barley leaf rust pathogen reveal evidence of repeat element expansion and somatic hybridization

The paper presents haplotype-phased, chromosome-scale genomes of Puccinia hordei isolates, revealing repeat expansion, somatic hybridization, and genome plasticity.

EffectorGeneP: accurate gene annotation in pathogen genomes from infection transcriptomes

EffectorGeneP improves gene annotation in pathogen genomes by predicting coding sequences from transcript data, outperforming existing methods and expanding the predicted secretome.

Haplotype-phased assemblies of the two poplar rust fungi species: Melampsora larici-populina and Melampsora allii-populina

The paper presents haplotype-phased, near chromosome-scale genome assemblies for two poplar rust fungi species, improving contiguity and enabling analysis of genome architecture and virulence genes.

Novel clonal lineages of wheat stem rust in the Southern Cone of South America

The paper characterizes novel clonal lineages of wheat stem rust in South America using genomic data and finds a predominant lineage unique to the region with stepwise mutation patterns.

Virulence and genomic analysis of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae in Australia identifies new races and a new lineage in 2024

The paper analyzes 30 Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae isolates from Australia to identify new races and a novel lineage, highlighting shifts in virulence and population structure.

QTL mapping of oat crown rust resistance in Australian fields and identification of a seedling resistance locus in oat line GS7

This paper identifies a QTL for oat crown rust resistance linked to the Pc61 gene and develops KASP markers for breeding programs.

Haplotype-resolved genomes of diverse oat crown rust isolates reveal both global dispersion of long-lived clonal haplotypes and limited recombination between haplotypes.

The fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani AG-8 has two nuclear haplotypes that differ in abundance

This study reveals that Rhizoctonia solani AG-8 has two nuclear haplotypes with differing abundances and gene expression patterns during plant infection.

A wheat tandem kinase sensor activates an NLR helper to trigger immunity

The paper identifies a two-component resistance mechanism in wheat where a tandem kinase sensor recruits an NLR helper to trigger immunity against fungal pathogens.

Characterisation of virulence of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae in Australia in the 2023 growing season

The paper characterizes the virulence of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae isolates in Australia during the 2023 growing season and identifies new or increased virulence on resistance genes.

A chromosome-scale genome assembly of the flax rust fungus reveals the two unusually large effector proteins, AvrM3 and AvrN

This study presents a chromosome-scale genome assembly of the flax rust fungus, revealing two large effector proteins, AvrM3 and AvrN, and providing insights into its mating system.

Identification of diagnostic KASP markers for selection of crown rust resistance in oats

This study develops and validates KASP markers for crown rust resistance genes in oats, identifying new carriers and correcting previous classifications.

A high-resolution haplotype pangenome uncovers somatic hybridization, recombination and intercontinental migration in oat crown rust

This study constructs a high-resolution haplotype pangenome of oat crown rust, revealing somatic hybridization, recombination, and intercontinental migration as drivers of genetic diversity.

Detection of oat crown rust disease in Taiwan (2019-2021)

This study identifies the oat crown rust pathogen in Taiwan as Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae through molecular and phenotypic analysis of field samples collected between 2019 and 2021.

Genome-enabled analysis of population dynamics and virulence associated loci in the oat crown rust fungus Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae

This study analyzes population dynamics and virulence-associated loci in the oat crown rust fungus using genomic and phenotypic data from isolates in the USA and South Africa.

Extensive somatic nuclear exchanges shape global populations of the wheat leaf rust pathogen Puccinia triticina

The paper shows that somatic nuclear exchange in Puccinia triticina generates genetic diversity, leading to new strains through repeated shuffling of haploid nuclei between clonal lineages.

Resolving the haplotypes of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi highlights the role of two nuclear populations in host interactions

The paper resolves the haplotypes of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and identifies two nuclear populations involved in host interactions.

A highly contiguous genome assembly reveals sources of genomic novelty in the symbiotic fungus Rhizophagus irregularis

The paper presents a high-quality genome assembly of Rhizophagus irregularis, revealing genomic innovations specific to the Glomeromycotina subphylum.

Haplotype-phased and chromosome-level assembly of Puccinia polysora, a giga-scale fungal pathogen causing southern corn rust

This paper assembles the haplotype-phased and chromosome-level genome of Puccinia polysora using HiFi and Hi-C data, revealing genomic features and population structure.

A chromosome-level, fully phased genome assembly of the oat crown rust fungus Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae: a resource to enable comparative genomics in the cereal rusts

Long reads and Hi-C sequencing illuminate the two-compartment genome of the model arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiont Rhizophagus irregularis

The paper uses long reads and Hi-C sequencing to analyze genome structure and compartmentalization in Rhizophagus irregularis, revealing two distinct chromatin compartments with different gene and repeat content.

EffectorP 3.0: prediction of apoplastic and cytoplasmic effectors in fungi and oomycetes

EffectorP 3.0 predicts apoplastic and cytoplasmic effectors in fungi and oomycetes using machine learning models trained on known effectors, achieving low false positive rates.

Identification and correction of phase switches with Hi-C data in the Nanopore and HiFi chromosome-scale assemblies of the dikaryotic leaf rust fungus Puccinia triticina

The paper identifies and corrects phase switches in Hi-C data for dikaryotic fungus assemblies using Nanopore and HiFi sequencing, showing HiFi's superiority in phasing low heterozygosity genomes.

Austropuccinia psidii, causing myrtle rust, has a gigabase-sized genome shaped by transposable elements

This paper reports the assembly of a large, highly contiguous genome for Austropuccinia psidii, revealing its expansion through transposable elements and low GC content.

The stem rust fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici induces centromeric small RNAs during late infection that direct genome-wide DNA methylation

Emergence of the Ug99 lineage of the wheat stem rust pathogen through somatic hybridisation

The paper shows that the Ug99 wheat stem rust pathogen emerged through somatic hybridisation and nuclear exchange between dikaryons, with one haploid nucleus genotype shared with an older African lineage.

Improved prediction of fungal effector proteins from secretomes with EffectorP 2.0

EffectorP 2.0 improves fungal effector protein prediction with higher accuracy and reduced false positives compared to previous versions.

De novo assembly and phasing of dikaryotic genomes from two isolates of Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae, the causal agent of oat crown rust

This study presents haplotype-phased genome assemblies of two dikaryotic Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae isolates, revealing structural variation and heterozygous SNPs, and identifies co-expressed effector candidates associated with virulence differences.