Described here is a method for the extraction, purification, and quality control of genomic DNA from the obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen, powdery mildew, for use in long-read genome sequencing.
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Method Article
* These authors contributed equally
Described here is a method for the extraction, purification, and quality control of genomic DNA from the obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen, powdery mildew, for use in long-read genome sequencing.
The powdery mildew fungi are a group of economically important fungal plant pathogens. Relatively little is known about the molecular biology and genetics of these pathogens, in part due to a lack of well-developed genetic and genomic resources. These organisms have large, repetitive genomes, which have made genome sequencing and assembly prohibitively difficult. Here, we describe methods for the collection, extraction, purification and quality control assessment of high molecular weight genomic DNA from one powdery mildew species, Golovinomyces cichoracearum. The protocol described includes mechanical disruption of spores followed by an optimized phenol/chloroform genomic DNA extraction. A typical yield was 7 µg DNA per 150 mg conidia. The genomic DNA that is isolated using this procedure is suitable for long-read sequencing (i.e., > 48.5 kbp). Quality control measures to ensure the size, yield, and purity of the genomic DNA are also described in this method. Sequencing of the genomic DNA of the quality described here will allow for the assembly and comparison of multiple powdery mildew genomes, which in turn will lead to a better understanding and improved control of this agricultural pathogen.
Powdery mildews are a group of obligate biotrophic fungal plant pathogens that, when taken together, are the largest cause of plant disease worldwide1. There are over 900 described species of powdery mildew, which have been taxonomically grouped into five tribes within the family Erisyphaceae2. Due both to their economic importance and the intimate relationship they develop with their hosts, powdery mildew diseases have been the subject of research for > 100 years. Upon infection, powdery mildews elicit drastic changes in the cellular structure, metabolism and molecular biology of their hosts, to benefit this pathogen. However, the study of powdery mildews is particularly challenging due to their obligate lifestyle, and growth of the fungus in pure culture has not yet been described3,4,5,6,7,8. Reliable, stable genetic transformation of powdery mildews has also not yet been accomplished, although transient transformation has been reported in some species9,10.
The sequencing and assembly of powdery mildew genomes has proven difficult due to a number of features of the genome itself. Powdery mildew genomes are large (120 - 180 Mbp) relative to other fungal genomes, and consist of 60 - 90% evenly distributed repetitive elements11. These elements include non-long terminal repeats, as well as uncategorized repetitive elements. Two formae speciales of a single powdery mildew species, Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei and f. sp. tritici (Bgh and Bgt, respectively) as well as the grape powdery mildew Erysiphe necator, have been sequenced, and draft genomes for several others have been completed12,13,14. The repetitive nature of the genomes has made assembly difficult, and the completed Bgh genome was assembled into 6,989 supercontigs with an L50 of 2 Mb12.
Despite the large genome, the powdery mildews appear to have a small number of protein coding genes, with 5,845 and 6,540 genes predicted in Bgh and Bgt, respectively. The sequenced powdery mildews also appear to lack at least 99 core genes that are essential in other fungi, which is consistent with the dependence of the fungi on their host plant for survival11,12,13,14.
Repetitive sequences near telomers, centromeres, ribosomal RNA gene arrays and regions enriched in transposable elements are poorly assembled from short-read sequencing strategies and are often under-represented in genome assemblies15. Such regions are thought to be responsible for many of the gaps that occur in genome sequences, and this applies to the powdery mildews with their extensive expansion of repetitive elements16. Highly plastic genome regions are often found in such repetitive regions3. They serve as a site of chromosome rearrangements and often encode genes under strong selective pressure, such as the genes encoding effector proteins and the genes encoding enzymes of secondary metabolism. Advances in single-molecule long-read sequencing technologies provide a potential solution for sequencing across repetitive regions of genomes15. For example, Faino et al. (2015) found that including long-sequence read technologies and optical mapping allowed them to produce a gap-less genome sequence for two strains of the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahlia, tripling the proportion of repetitive DNA sequences in the genome, increasing the number of gene annotations (and reducing the number of partial or missing gene annotations) and revealing genome rearrangements17.
To employ these long-read sequencing technologies, high concentrations of high quality genomic DNA, with minimal sizes > 20 kbp, are needed. Here we describe our methods for conidial collection, purification of high molecular weight DNA from conidia and our quality control assessments using the powdery mildew species Golovinomyces cichoracearum grown on cucumber18. This protocol is based on a protocol developed in the B. Keller laboratory group (University of Zürich, Zürich Switzerland)13,19 and includes several modifications that led to increased DNA yields and a higher proportion of DNA >48.5 kbp in size. The protocol also includes quality control steps based on recommendations from the United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute20,21,22.
The function of each reagent included in the lysis buffer, and the rationale for each purification step, are as described in Henry (2008)23. Available published protocols for isolation of high molecular weight genomic DNA from plant and microbial tissues were also consulted during the design of this protocol24,25,26,27,28.
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1. Preparation of Fungal Material
2. Genomic DNA Purification
3. Quality Control
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A representative example of 60ng purified genomic DNA from G. cichoracearum run on an agarose gel using gel electrophoresis and using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis are shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. Genomic DNA preparations that pass, marginally pass and fail quality control are represented. Genomic DNA preparations that fully pass quality control are ideal for sequencing using long-read genome sequencing approaches. ...
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In order to obtain pure, high molecular weight genomic DNA from the obligate biotrophic powdery mildew fungi, a modified version of previously described methods was developed30. The average yield using this optimized protocol is 7 µg DNA per 150 mg conidia, a doubling of the yield obtained with a prior protocol. Also, the average size increased from approximately 20 kbp to over 48.5 kbp. This protocol was optimized in the cucumber-G. cichoracearum system. In order to obtain the best ...
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The authors have nothing to disclose.
This protocol was developed in support of a Joint Genome Institute-Community Sequencing Project (#1657). The work was supported in part by the Philomathia Foundation, the National Science Foundation (#0929226) and the Energy Biosciences Institute to S. Somerville; and by Swiss National Science Foundation (#310030_163260) to B. Keller. We would like to thank our colleagues, M. Figureroa and M. Miller (University of Minnesota), R. Panstruga (RWTH Aachen University), C. Pedersen (University of Copenhagen), P. Spanu (Imperial College), J. Taneja (University of California Berkeley), M. Wildermuth (University of California Berkeley), R. Wise (Iowa State University) and S. Xiao (University of Maryland) for their generous advice and for volunteering their protocols as we developed the protocol described here.
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| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| MM400 Ball Mill | Retsch | 20.745.0001 | Or equivalent ball mill |
| 2 mL tubes for ball milling | Sarstedt | 72.694.007 | |
| 5/32" stainless steel milling balls | OPS Diagnostics | GBSS 165-5000-01 | |
| Microprocessor controlled 280 Series Water Bath Preset to 65 °C | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 2825 | Or equivalent water bath |
| Microprocessor controlled 280 Series Water Bath Preset to 37 °C | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 2825 | Or equivalent water bath |
| Eppendorf 5417R refrigerated microcentrifuge | Krakeler Scientific | 38-022621807 | Or equivalent microcentrifuge |
| Chlorform:IAA (24:1 v/v) | Sigma-Aldrich | C0549 | Hazardous in case of skin contact or inhalation. Wear nitrile gloves, protective eyewear, lab coat and work in chemical hood |
| Phenol:Chloroform:IAA (25:24:1 v/v) | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 15593031 | Hazardous in case of skin contact or inhalation. Wear nitrile gloves, protective eyewear, lab coat and work in chemical hood |
| 100% Isopropanol | Sigma-Aldrich | W292907 | |
| 100% Ethanol | Sigma-Aldrich | 34923 | Chill to -20 °C prior use |
| Sodium Acetate | Sigma-Aldrich | S2889 | |
| Rnase, Dnase-free (10 mg/mL) | Thermo Fisher Scientific | EN0531 | |
| Potassium metabisulfite | Sigma-Aldrich | P2522 | |
| Sodium Lauryl Sacroinate | Sigma-Aldrich | L9150 | |
| Tris base | Sigma-Aldrich | 10708976001 | |
| Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) | Sigma-Aldrich | EDS | |
| Sodium chloride (NaCl) | Sigma-Aldrich | S9888 | |
| Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) | Sigma-Aldrich | H6269 | |
| Uvex by Honeywell Futura Goggles S345C, Uvextreme | Staples | 423263 | Or equivalent eyewear |
| High Five COBALT nitrile gloves, LARGE | Neta Scientific | HFG-N193 | Or equivalent gloves |
| GelRed Nucleic Acid Gel Stain 10,000x in water | Biotium | 41003 | |
| Ethidium Bromide 10 mg/mL | Biotium | 40042 | Hazardous in case of skin contact. Wear nitrile gloves and protective eyewear |
| Agarose Ultrapure Bioreagent | VWR International LLC | JT4063 | |
| GeneRuler 1 kb Plus DNA Ladder | Thermo Fisher Scientific | FERSM1332 | |
| 8 - 48 kb CHEF DNA size standards | Bio-Rad | 170-3707 | |
| Pippin Prep | Life Technologies Corporation | 4472172 | Or equivalent pulse-field gel aparatus |
| Whatman qualitative filter paper, Grade 1 | Sigma-Aldrich | WHA1001042 | Or equivalent growth chamber |
| Percival Growth Chamber | Percival | AR66LXC9 | |
| NanoDrop 8000 UV-Vis Spectrophotometer | Thermo Fisher Scientific | ND-8000-GL | Or equivalent spectrophotometer |
| Quant-iT PicoGreen dsDNA Assay Kit | Thermo Fisher Scientific | P11496 | |
| TAE Buffer (Tris-acetate-EDTA) (50x) | Thermo Fisher Scientific | B49 | Dilute 1/50 with water before use (to 1x) |
| TE Buffer | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 12090015 | |
| Tris-Borate-EDTA, 10x Solution (Electrophoresis) | Thermo Fisher Scientific | BP13334 | Dilute 1/10 with water before use (to 1x) |
| Liquid Nitrogen | Liquid nitrogen (-196 °C) is a freezing hazard. It will also expand rapidly upon warming and should not keep in a tightly closed container |
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