rps3 as a Candidate Mitochondrial Gene for the Molecular Identification of Species from the Colletotrichum acutatum Species Complex

Abstract

Colletotrichum species form one of the most economically significant groups of pathogenic fungi and lead to significant losses in the production of major crops—in particular, fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, shrubs, and trees. Members of the genus Colletotrichum cause anthracnose disease in many plants. Due to their considerable variation, these fungi have been widely investigated in genetic studies as model organisms. Here, we report the complete mitochondrial genome sequences of four Colletotrichum species (C. fioriniae, C. lupini, C. salicis, and C. tamarilloi). The reported circular mitogenomes range from 30,020 (C. fioriniae) to 36,554 bp (C. lupini) in size and have identical sets of genes, including 15 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and 29 tRNA genes. All four mitogenomes are characterized by a rather poor repetitive sequence content with only forward repeat representatives and a low number of microsatellites. The topology of the phylogenetic tree reflects the systematic positions of the studied species, with representatives of each Colletotrichum species complex gathered in one clade. A comparative analysis reveals consistency in the gene composition and order of Colletotrichum mitogenomes, although some highly divergent regions are also identified, like the rps3 gene which appears as a source of potential diagnostic markers for all studied Colletotrichum species.