{"title":"真菌疾病爆发是由星际飞船转座子引发的吗?","authors":"Andrew S Urquhart, Adrian Forsythe, Aaron A Vogan","doi":"10.1111/mpp.70124","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>New outbreaks of fungal diseases are an ongoing threat to global agriculture. One known mechanism generating novel diseases is the horizontal transfer of genes between fungal species. Yet we have little understanding of how such transfers are mediated. Here, we raise the possibility that Starships, a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposable elements, might be responsible. To support this hypothesis, we discuss three potential cases where Starships may have mediated disease outbreaks. These are ToxA in wheat pathogens, genes underlying Glomerella leaf spot on apple trees, and the defoliating gene cluster of Verticillium dahliae on cotton. In the Verticillium example, we provide strong evidence for a Starship-mediated mechanism: disease-promoting genes reside in closely related Starships across distantly related species. We aim to spark interest in Starships' roles in fungal pathogens and how this knowledge could inform disease management strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":18763,"journal":{"name":"Molecular plant pathology","volume":"26 7","pages":"e70124"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257634/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Are Fungal Disease Outbreaks Instigated by Starship Transposons?\",\"authors\":\"Andrew S Urquhart, Adrian Forsythe, Aaron A Vogan\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/mpp.70124\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>New outbreaks of fungal diseases are an ongoing threat to global agriculture. One known mechanism generating novel diseases is the horizontal transfer of genes between fungal species. Yet we have little understanding of how such transfers are mediated. Here, we raise the possibility that Starships, a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposable elements, might be responsible. To support this hypothesis, we discuss three potential cases where Starships may have mediated disease outbreaks. These are ToxA in wheat pathogens, genes underlying Glomerella leaf spot on apple trees, and the defoliating gene cluster of Verticillium dahliae on cotton. In the Verticillium example, we provide strong evidence for a Starship-mediated mechanism: disease-promoting genes reside in closely related Starships across distantly related species. We aim to spark interest in Starships' roles in fungal pathogens and how this knowledge could inform disease management strategies.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":18763,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Molecular plant pathology\",\"volume\":\"26 7\",\"pages\":\"e70124\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":4.8000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-07-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257634/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Molecular plant pathology\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"97\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1111/mpp.70124\",\"RegionNum\":1,\"RegionCategory\":\"农林科学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"PLANT SCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Molecular plant pathology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mpp.70124","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Are Fungal Disease Outbreaks Instigated by Starship Transposons?
New outbreaks of fungal diseases are an ongoing threat to global agriculture. One known mechanism generating novel diseases is the horizontal transfer of genes between fungal species. Yet we have little understanding of how such transfers are mediated. Here, we raise the possibility that Starships, a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposable elements, might be responsible. To support this hypothesis, we discuss three potential cases where Starships may have mediated disease outbreaks. These are ToxA in wheat pathogens, genes underlying Glomerella leaf spot on apple trees, and the defoliating gene cluster of Verticillium dahliae on cotton. In the Verticillium example, we provide strong evidence for a Starship-mediated mechanism: disease-promoting genes reside in closely related Starships across distantly related species. We aim to spark interest in Starships' roles in fungal pathogens and how this knowledge could inform disease management strategies.
期刊介绍:
Molecular Plant Pathology is now an open access journal. Authors pay an article processing charge to publish in the journal and all articles will be freely available to anyone. BSPP members will be granted a 20% discount on article charges. The Editorial focus and policy of the journal has not be changed and the editorial team will continue to apply the same rigorous standards of peer review and acceptance criteria.