Genetic variability of grey snow mould (Typhula incarnata)

Abstract

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity of isolates of grey snow mould (‘gray snow mold’), Typhula incarnata, taken from infected turfgrasses from 40 different locations in the northern USA. Data from 115 markers using 37 RAPD primers showed 48% polymorphism. The distance coefficients between isolates indicate the wide genetic diversity of T. incarnata across the sample area. Dendrograms generated using neighbour-joining (NJ) bootstrap analyses showed three clades and suggest possible recent colonization from common founder groups. Partitioning of the genetic variance using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) of four groups based on geographic locations (Michigan, lower and upper peninsula; Minnesota; Wisconsin) showed that genetic variation attributable among groups and within groups was 12.67 and 87.33%, respectively. No correlation was found between geographic distance and pairwise genetic distance of the groups. High outcrossing and sexual recombination of T. incarnata may well be key factors explaining the genetic variability as shown with the low Fixation index (FST) and high average of genetic diversity per locus within groups.