Amplified fragment length polymorphism among Rhynchosporium secalis isolates collected from a single barley field in Syria

A. Kiros-Meles, Sripada M. Udupa, Mathew Abang, Hifzi Abu Blan, Michael Baum, Salvatore Ceccarelli, Amor Yahyaoui. (12/5/2005). Amplified fragment length polymorphism among Rhynchosporium secalis isolates collected from a single barley field in Syria. Annals of Applied Biology, 146 (3), pp. 389-394.

Abstract

AFLP markers were used to measure the amount and distribution of genetic variation among Rhynchosporium secalis isolates on a microgeographical scale in Syria. Forty isolates hierarchically sampled from a single barley field were assayed for AFLP variation using primer combinations not previously tested in populations of the pathogen from Syria. In contrast to a previous study, which showed high clonality within field populations of R. secalis in Syria, the present study revealed a much higher level of genetic diversity, stressing the important roles that sampling strategies and the choice of primers/primer combinations play in the evaluation of genetic variation in R. secalis populations at a microgeographical scale. A high level of genetic variation was found to occur on a fine scale throughout the pathogen population examined, with 40 different haplotypes being identified among the 40 isolates sampled. Data were consistent with the hypothesis that the primary inoculum originated from a genetically diverse founding population, which may have consisted of ascospores of an as yet undescribed teleomorph and/or asexual spores of a highly mutable local population.