Identification and characterisation of Mycosphaerella graminicola secreted or surface-associated proteins with variable intragenic coding repeats

Pathogenic micro-organisms have been suggested to vary the number of intragenic repeats present within secreted or cell membrane/cell wall-associated proteins in order to manipulate host immune responses. We have identified a number of genes predicted to encode secreted proteins possessing internal tandem repeats in the genome sequence of Mycosphaerella graminicola (isolate IPO323), a wheat leaf-specific fungal pathogen and causal agent of Septoria tritici blotch disease. Twenty-three M. graminicolaTandem Repeat Proteins (MgTRPs) were subject to further analysis. Many MgTRPs varied in the number of intragenic repeats between isolates and almost all were expressed. Peak gene expression was frequently observed towards the end of the symptomless phase of wheat leaf colonisation which typically lasts for 8–10 days after inoculation. In contrast, with one exception, increased expression of the majority of MgTRPs was not detected during interactions with resistant host genotypes. Repeat number differences detected in genomic DNA were retained in different transcript sizes produced during plant infection by different isolates. One in planta expressed MgTRP was found to reside within a ∼6 kb region that appears to be absent from a number of tested isolates and also from individual members of a modern field population. Sequence analysis of another in planta expressed MgTRP from six isolates highlighted the potential for structural changes which may occur as a consequence of varying internal repeat numbers and provided support for repeat variation occurring as a consequence of intragenic recombination. These data provide new insights into the genetic variation which exists within M. graminicola populations at the level of in planta expressed secreted/surface-associated proteins which are candidate effectors in the host–pathogen interaction.