Wheat Snow Mold (WSM), caused by Microdochium species, poses a serious threat to global wheat production. Despite its importance, the genetic and molecular mechanisms of Microdochium remain poorly understood. In particular, genome-wide differences between M. majus and M. nivale, which were previously considered a single species, have not been fully elucidated. Here, we present the first high-quality telomere-to-telomere genome assemblies of M. majus (231095) and M. nivale (231047), based on Nanopore and Illumina sequencing, with genome sizes of 36.50 Mb and 37.27 Mb. Each assembly was anchored to 13 chromosomes and one circular mitochondrial genome. We identified 11,432 and 11,904 protein-coding genes, with BUSCO completeness scores of 98.5% and 99.3%; of these, 11,094 and 11,504 genes were functionally annotated. Comparative genomics revealed a high degree of collinearity between the two strains, along with segment relocations and gene presence/absence variations. This study enhances our understanding of the genetic foundations of M. majus and M. nivale, laying the groundwork for future research on genetic evolution and disease management.
Yang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.