Mitochondrial genome sequence of the potato powdery scab pathogen Spongospora subterranea

Abstract

Spongospora subterranea is a soil-borne obligate parasite responsible for potato powdery scab disease. S. subterranea is a member of the order Plasmodiophorida, a protist taxa that is related to Cercozoa and Foraminifera but the fine details of these relationships remain unresolved. Currently there is only one available complete mtDNA sequence of a cercozoan, Bigelowiella natans. In this work, the mitochondrial sequence of a S. subterranea isolate infecting an Andean variety of S. tuberosum ssp. andigena (Diacol-Capiro) is presented. The mtDNA codes for 16 proteins of the respiratory chain, 11 ribosomal proteins, 3 ribosomal RNAs, 24 tRNAs, a RNA processing RNaseP, a RNA-directed polymerase, and two proteins of unknown function. This is the first report of a mtDNA genome sequence from a plasmodiophorid and will be useful in clarifying the phylogenetic relationship of this group to other members in the supergroup Rhizaria once more mtDNA sequences are available.

• Mitochondrial DNA
• plasmodiophorids
• powdery scab disease
• Rhizaria
• Solanum tuberosum

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the manuscript. This work was supported by Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Grant: 20101009932.