Morphological and molecular characterization of Chalara elegans (Thielaviopsis basicola), cause of black root rot on diverse plant species
Back to previous page
| Authors: | Punja, ZK; Sun, LJ |
| Year: | 1999 |
| Journal: | Canadian Journal of Botany-Revue Canadienne de Botanique 77: 1801-1812 |
| Title: | Morphological and molecular characterization of Chalara elegans (Thielaviopsis basicola), cause of black root rot on diverse plant species |
| Abstract: | The extent of variation in colony morphology and chlamydospore size, septation, and pigmentation was studied in 50 isolates of Chalara elegans Nag Raj et Kendrick (syn. Thielaviopsis basicola (Berk. et Br.) Ferr.) originating from 12 different geographic areas and substrates. In addition, the extent of genetic variation among these isolates was determined using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Five general morphological groups could be distinguished among the isolates, two of which were aberrant phenotypes (albino and mycelial) that were derived upon continuous subculture of some wild-type isolates in the laboratory. The isolates with the most variation in phenotype originated from British Columbia and California. Six primers (10-mers) were used to generate 90 bands in RAPD-PCR, of which 75 were polymorphic. A high degree of diversity was apparent within C. elegans, and some banding patterns generated by specific primers were unique to certain isolates, thereby generating fingerprints. Distinct groups (clusters) were obtained following UPGMA analysis and, generally, these were composed of isolates from similar geographic regions or hosts. However, isolates from some areas, for example, British Columbia, were also found to belong to different clusters. There was generally a good relationship between groups assigned on the basis of morphology and those derived from cluster analysis, that is, isolates within a cluster tended to have similar morphology. In a few isolates, the aberrant phenotypes (albino and mycelial) could be distinguished using RAPDs from the wild type by the absence of 1 or 2 bands, indicating that changes in the nucleotide sequence had occurred, possibly through mutation. The average similarity index among all 50 isolates of C. elegans was 87%. An outgroup species (Chalara thielaviodes) had a similarity value of 40%. |
Please send suggestions for improving this publication database to
sass-support@sfu.ca.
Departmental members may update their publication list.