Genetic polymorphism of Polish strains of Gremmeniella abietina and Brunchorstia pinea var. cembrae

Thirty-three type A strains of G. abietina from diseased shoots or needles of P. sylvestris, P. nigra and P. armandii and three strains of Brunchorstia pinea var. cembrae from P. mugo were isolated from four regions of Poland differing with respect to climatic conditions. Genetic polymorphism of the mitochondrial small subunit rRNA (mtSSU rRNA), ribosomal RNA fragment including ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 and glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) gene was examined by the PCR-RFLP method. Genetic distance was ascertained with respect to B. pinea var. cembrae strains from G. abietina isolated from the examinedpine species (average Nei coefficient 0.137). The smallest genetic distance occurred between the strain groups of G. abietina isolated from P. nigra and P. armandii (0.059) and P. nigra and P. sylvestris (0.061), whereas the highest occurred between the groups of strains deriving from P. armandii and P. sylvestris (0.096). The impact of geographic distance on genetic distance between groups of strains from individual regions has been shown. G. abietina strains originating from mountainous areas were more distanced genetically (on average 0.031) from populations from other regions (Nei genetic distance 0.023). The main factors influencing genetic differences of the pathogen were specificity with respect to the species of the host plant and climate conditions, whereas geographic distance had lesser significance.