Gap-free nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of Fusarium verticillioides strain HN2

Abstract

Fusarium ear rot (FER) and Fusarium stalk rot (FSR) caused by the filamentous fungus Fusarium verticillioides have become increasingly serious around the world. Additionally, fumonisins produced by F. verticillioides threaten food and feed security. By adding the contribution of genomic resources to better understand the pathosystem including the mechanisms of F. verticillioides–maize interactions, and further improving the quality of the F. verticillioides genome, the gap-free nuclear genome and mitochondrial genome of F. verticillioides strain HN2 were sequenced and assembled. Using Oxford Nanopore long reads and next-generation sequencing short reads, the final 42.81-Mb genome was assembled into 12 contigs (N50 = 4.16-Mb). A total of 13,466 protein-coding genes were annotated, including 1,076 secreted proteins that contain 342 candidate effectors. In addition, we assembled the complete 53,764 bp mitochondrial genome. F. verticillioides strain 7600 genome assemblies are fragmented and high-quality reference genomes were needed. The genomes presented here will serve as an important resource for F. verticillioides research.