Study design

Reticulate evolution has long been recognized as a key mechanism that contributes to genetic and trait diversity. With the widespread availability ...

Giant transposons, known as ‘Starships’, mediate horizontal gene transfer between fungal genomes. Here, Sato et al. show that Starships occupy genome regions crucial for infection in a plant pathogeni...

Abstract. A key prediction of neutral theory is that the level of genetic diversity in a population should scale with population size. However, as was note

Fungi underpin all life on Earth, yet it is estimated that more than 95 per cent of fungal species remain undiscovered. Holding over 1.25 million dried specimens, the Fungarium at Royal Botanic Garden...

YouTube video by International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium

Starships form a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposons in Pezizomycotina fungi, implicated in mediating horizontal transfer of diverse cargo genes between fungal genomes. Their elusive nature has long obscured their significance, and their impact on genome evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal a surprising abundance and diversity of Starships in the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae . Remarkably, Starships dominate the plastic genomic compartments involved in host colonization, are enriched in virulence-associated genes, and exhibit genetic and epigenetic characteristics associated with adaptive genome evolution. We further uncover extensive horizontal transfer of Starships between Verticillium species and, strikingly, from distantly related Fusarium fungi. Finally, we demonstrate how Starship activity facilitated the de novo formation of a novel virulence gene. Our findings illuminate the profound influence of Starship dynamics on fungal genome evolution and the development of virulence. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

The question of where DNA replication starts in the human genome has finally been addressed, with the conclusion it is largely random.

New insights into large mobile fungal genome elements, called Starships, have revealed more about how they jump between fungal species and influence their evolution.

The discovery, from scientists at the Earlham Institute and Rothamsted Research, allows researchers to better study how similar species of Pezizomycotina fungus have evolved to adopt radically different lifestyles.

Transposable elements (TEs) can drive the evolution of host-pathogen interactions and gains in antimicrobial resistance. However, how adaptive TEs arise in populations and historical contingencies aff...