Convergent evolution of host adaptation in plant pathogenic fungi.

Plant-pathogenic fungi are causal agents of diseases of plants worldwide. Plants and pathogens adapt to each other in an co-evolutionary arms race. Here we will study the genomes of Cercospora spp. and Fusarium spp. that cause severe disease on sugarbeet. By genome comparison and transcriptomics we aim to characterize the effectors that these pathogens use to infect their shared host.