Selection processes in simple sequence repeats suggest a correlation with their genomic location: insights from a fungal model system

Adaptive processes shape the evolution of genomes and the diverse functions of different genomic regions are likely to have an impact on the trajectory and outcome of this evolution. The main underlying hypothesis of this study is that the evolution of Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) is correlated with the evolution of the genomic region in which they are located, resulting in differences of motif size, number of repeats, and levels of polymorphisms. These differences should be clearly detectable when analyzing the frequency and type of SSRs within the genome of a species, when studying populations within a species, and when comparing closely related sister taxa. By coupling a genome-wide SSR survey in the genome of the plant pathogenic fungus Heterobasidion irregulare with an analysis of intra- and interspecific variability of 39 SSR markers in five populations of the two sibling species H. irregulare and H. annosum, we investigated mechanisms of evolution of SSRs.