Host species-specific conservation of a family of repeated DNA sequences in the genome of a fungal plant pathogen

We have identified a family of dispersed repetitive DNA sequences in the genome of Magnaporthe grisea, the fungus that causes rice blast disease. We have named this family of DNA sequences 'MGR' for M. grisea repeat. Analysis of five MGR clones demonstrates that MGR sequences are highly polymorphic. The segregation of MGR sequences in genetic crosses and hybridization of MGR probes to separated, chromosome-size DNA molecules of M. grisea shows that this family of sequences is distributed among the M. grisea chromosomes. MGR sequences also hybridize to discrete poly(A)⁺ RNAs. Southern blot analysis using a MGR probe can distinguish rice pathogens from various sources. However, MGR sequences are not highly conserved in the genomes of M. grisea field isolates that do not infect rice. These results suggest that host selection for a specific pathogen genotype has occurred during the breeding and cultivation of rice.