Genetic diversity of Fusarium graminearum isolated from weeds

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating disease of cereals worldwide. The primary hosts of this pathogen are wheat and barley, but it also can survive and spread in segetal plants. Data on Fusarium graminearum subpopulations in weeds is lacking. We collected isolates of F. graminearum sensu stricto from segetal plants growing in six separate crop fields and used variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) markers to gain insights into the diversity of its subpopulations. Ten primer pairs of VNTR markers were tested on 57 F. graminearum isolates obtained from 415 sampled plants representing 52 species. High genetic diversity was found, even in this relatively small number of isolates.