Transposable elements of Blumeria hordei

Ralph Hückelhoven, Aurelien Tellier (TUM Population Genetics) & Marion Müller

With this project, the role of transposable elements (TEs) in shaping the genomic organization and effector repertoire of Blumeria hordei will be examined. As a result of adaptation to the host environment, this obligate parasitic fungus shows intra-species diversity at the genome organization as well as effector sequence levels. This project will address the questions, whether i) diversity is observed and selection occurs at candidate effector genes that derive from TE sequences (Nottensteiner et al. 2018, J Exp. Bot.) and ii) what is the contribution of TEs to the evolution and regulation of TE-neighbouring housekeeping and effector genes as well as on genome structure.