Hiroshima Team Maps Fungal Genes Without Reference
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- Professor Hidemasa Bono led a team at Hiroshima University that created a fungal‑specific workflow for functional analysis of RNA‑seq data without needing a reference genome.
- 57 shiitake mushroom samples (Lentinula edodes strain H600) and 20 Asian soybean rust samples (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) were processed to evaluate the workflow.
- Over 96% of protein‑coding transcripts were annotated, delivering higher functional detection resolution than existing generalized tools.
- Standard short‑read RNA‑seq and full‑length Iso‑Seq data were both successfully processed, showing the workflow’s versatility across sequencing platforms.
- Specialized fungal‑specific databases were used for sequence comparison instead of reference genomes, enabling more comprehensive functional enrichment analysis and identification of high‑priority CRISPR targets.
- Journal of Fungi (2026) published the study, co‑authored by Nagisa Morihara and Hidemasa Bono.
Why it matters: Fungal researchers, especially those studying non‑model organisms or pathogens, gain a rapid, accurate tool for functional annotation, reducing reliance on scarce reference genomes and streamlining downstream analyses such as enrichment studies and CRISPR target selection, which can accelerate industrial and medical applications.
