Abstract Detail

Mycology

Lofgren, Lotus [1], Cramer, Robert [2], Stajich, Jason [3].

Combined Pan- and Population-Genomic analysis of Aspergillus fumigatus Reveals Global Structure and Clade-Specific Diversity.

Aspergillus fumigatus is one of the most common etiological agents of human fungal disease, causing several syndromes of varying severity depending on host immune status. In immunocompromised patients, invasive A. fumigatus infection (aspergillosis) causes up to 90% mortality, even with aggressive treatment, and is currently the most common cause of infectious death in this population. Although A. fumigatus is ubiquitous and globally distributed, reports on the population structure and intraspecific diversity of A. fumigatus have varied widely depending on the number of isolates in question and the methods used for analysis. Here, we combine Pan-genomic, Population-genomic, and Phylogenomic strategies to analyze a diverse set of 262 isolates of A. fumigatus, from high-quality full-genome sequence data. Using a comprehensive genomic methodology, we identified global population structure, the conservation of core genes, and the distribution of accessory genes across the species. We found evidence for three well-supported primary clades, that mapped cleanly to well supported branches of the phylogeny. LD decay analysis supported low, and relatively similar, levels of outcrossing in all three clades. Identification and mapping of mating-type loci displayed a higher abundance of MAT1-1 relative to MAT1-2 across the phylogeny, but both idiomorphs were represented in all clades. We further report on phylogeny-wide diversity metrics, and clade-specific patterns of gene family gains and losses, the distribution of known virulence mutations, the prevalence of diploidy, and a structural analysis of the distribution of accessory and core genes across genome space.

1 - University of California -Riverside, Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Riverside, CA, USA
2 - Dartmouth University, Geisel School of Medicine, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, NH, 03755, USA
3 - University Of California-Riverside, Dept Microbiology and Plant Pathology, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA, 92521, United States, 951-827-2363

Keywords:
Population genomics
Pan-genomics
phylogenomics
Aspergillus fumigatus
Mycology.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: MY2, Mycology: Human and Animal Pathogens
Location: /
Date: Tuesday, July 20th, 2021
Time: 1:45 PM(EDT)
Number: MY2006
Abstract ID:923
Candidate for Awards:None