|Kothera, R. - CLEMSON UNIVERSITY|
|Keinath, A. - CLEMSON UNIVERISTY|
|Dean, R. - CLEMSON UNIVERISTY|
Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: July 12, 1999
Publication Date: N/A
Technical Abstract: The fungal pathogen Didymella bryoniae is the causal agent of the foliar disease gummy stem blight on cucurbits. Little is known about the genetic diversity of this fungus. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to elucidate genetic variation within D. bryoniae. A total of 56 isolates from five states (Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas) and six countries (China, Greece, Israel, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United States) were examined. Eight different AFLP primer-pair combinations yielded >51 polymorphic markers. Markers were scored by presence or absence. A portion of the primer-pair combinations was repeated to verify reproducibility. Cluster analysis will be used to determine genetic diversity within and among geographic regions.