A Genome Resource for the Apple Powdery Mildew Pathogen Podosphaera leucotricha

Powdery mildew, caused by Podosphaera leucotricha, is an economically important disease of apple and pear trees. A single monoconidial strain (PuE-3) of this biotrophic fungus was used to extract DNA for Illumina sequencing. Data were assembled to form a draft genome of 43.8 Mb consisting of 8,921 contigs, 9,372 predicted genes, and 96.1% of complete benchmarking universal single copy orthologs (BUSCOs). This is the first reported genome sequence of P. leucotricha that will enable studies of the population biology, epidemiology, and fungicide resistance of this pathogen. Furthermore, this resource will be fundamental to uncover the genetic and molecular mechanisms of the apple-powdery mildew interaction, and support future pome fruit breeding efforts.