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Citation for Study 1256

About Citation title: "Molecular Phylogeny of the plant pathogenic genus Botrytis and the evolution of host specificity".
About This study was previously identified under the legacy study ID S1170 (Status: Published).

Citation

Staats M., Baarlen P., & Kan J. 2004. Molecular Phylogeny of the plant pathogenic genus Botrytis and the evolution of host specificity. Molecular Biology and Evolution, null.

Authors

  • Staats M.
  • Baarlen P.
  • Kan J.

Abstract

The cosmopolitan genus Botrytis contains 22 recognized species and one hybrid. The current classification is largely based on morphological characters and to a minor extent on physiology and host range. In this study, a classification of the genus was constructed based on DNA sequence data of three nuclear protein-coding genes (RPB2, G3PDH and HSP60) and compared with the traditional classification. Sexual reproduction and the host range, important fitness traits, were traced in the tree and used for the identification of major evolutionary events during speciation. The phylogenetic analysis corroborated the classical species delineation. In addition, the hybrid status of B. allii (B. byssoidea x B. aclada) was confirmed. Both individual gene trees and combined trees show that the genus Botrytis can be divided into two clades, radiating after the separation of Botrytis from other Sclerotiniaceae genera. Clade I contains four species that all colonize exclusively eudicot hosts, whereas clade II contains 18 species which are pathogenic either on eudicot (5) or monocot (13) hosts. A comparison of Botrytis and angiosperm phylogenies shows that cospeciation of pathogens and their hosts have not occurred during their respective evolution. Rather we propose that host shifts have occurred during Botrytis speciation, possibly by the acquisition of novel virulence factors. Loss of sexual reproduction has occurred at least three times and is supposed to be a consequence of negative selection.

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  • Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S1256
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