More than 90% of Ashbya gossypii genes show both homology and a particular pattern of synteny with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was originally isolated from cotton as a pathogen causing stigmatomycosis by Ashby and Novell in 1926. The Ashbya gossypii genome project was initiated when conservation of gene order and orientation (synteny) to Saccharomyces cerevisiae was noted. Ashbya gossypii became recognized as an attractive model to study the growth of long and multinucleate fungal cells (hyphae) because of its small genome, haploid nuclei, and efficient gene targeting methods. It is generally assumed that a better understanding of filamentous fungal growth will greatly stimulate the development of novel fungicides.

Browse this genome in the Ensembl Genomes browser.