Geomyces destructans genome project

Geomyces destructans was recently described as causing the fungal skin infection that is the hallmark of bat white-nose syndrome (WNS) [1,2]. Since first photodocumented near Albany, NY in 2006, WNS has devastated populations of cave-hibernating bats in the northeastern US, with mortality rates of 75-95%. In 2009, the WNS infection area extended from northeastern NH to southwestern VA, and expanded into TN and Canada in 2010. Outside of North America, G. destructans has also been observed to colonize bats across Europe [3], but without associated bat population declines. We have sequenced the genome of Geomyces destructans using 454 technology, with support from the NHGRI and USGS.
Citations
1. Blehert DS, Hicks AC, Behr M, Meteyer CU, Berlowski-Zier BM, Buckles EL, Coleman JT, Darling SR, Gargas A, Niver R, et al: Bat white-nose syndrome: an emerging fungal pathogen? Science 2009, 323:227.
2. Gargas, A, Trest MT, Christensen M, Volk TJ, and Blehert DS: Geomyces destructans sp. nov. associated with bat white-nose syndrome. Mycotaxon 2009, 108:147-154.
3. Wibbelt G, Kurth A, Hellmann D, Weishaar M, Barlow A, Veith M, Pruger J, Gorfol T, Grosche L, Bontadina F, et al: White-nose syndrome fungus (Geomyces destructans) in bats, Europe. Emerg Infect Dis 2010, 16:1237-1243.

Project Information

The Geomyces destructans sequencing project is part of the Broad Institute Fungal Genome Initiative. Its goal was to release an annotated assembly using 20X 454 sequence coverage for Geomyces destructans. The sequenced strain was isolated at The National Wildlife Health Center; the case and accession number is 20631-21. This strain was isolated from a little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) that was collected at the Williams Hotel Mine in NY on Feb. 2, 2008, and is the designated type strain (Mycotaxon 108, pp. 147-154 (2009)). Genomic DNA for sequencing was provided by Dr. David Blehert at The USGS - National Wildlife Health Center.

Project Leadership
• Christina Cuomo (Broad Institute)
• David Blehert (USGS National Wildlife Center)
What is Geomyces destructans?
Geomyces destructans was recently described as causing the fungal skin infection that is the hallmark of bat white-nose syndrome (WNS) [1,2]. Since first photodocumented near Albany, NY in 2006, WNS has devastated populations of cave-hibernating bats in the northeastern US, with mortality rates of 75-95%. In 2009, the WNS infection area extended from northeastern NH to southwestern VA and expanded into TN and Canada in 2010. Outside of North America, G. destructans has also been observed to colonize bats across Europe [3], but without associated bat population declines.

References
1. Blehert DS, Hicks AC, Behr M, Meteyer CU, Berlowski-Zier BM, Buckles EL, Coleman JT, Darling SR, Gargas A, Niver R, et al: Bat white-nose syndrome: an emerging fungal pathogen? Science 2009, 323:227.
2. Gargas, A, Trest MT, Christensen M, Volk TJ, and Blehert DS: Geomyces destructans sp. nov. associated with bat white-nose syndrome. Mycotaxon 2009, 108:147-154.
3. Wibbelt G, Kurth A, Hellmann D, Weishaar M, Barlow A, Veith M, Pruger J, Gorfol T, Grosche L, Bontadina F, et al: White-nose syndrome fungus (Geomyces destructans) in bats, Europe. Emerg Infect Dis 2010, 16:1237-1243.
 

Data access

The genome sequence of Geomyces destructans is available in Genbank under project accession PRJNA39257.

Data files formerly available on this website can be accessed on our fungal ftp site.