Poster: Epidemiology: Population Biology Genetics
655-P
Preliminary screening of genetic markers for population analyses of Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum pathotype
J. STACK (1), C. Cruz (1), S. Dobham (1) (1) Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, U.S.A.
Wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum pathotype (MoT), is a devastating disease of wheat in South America; primarily in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, and recently in a small area of northeast Argentina. It is a potential threat to wheat production worldwide with implications for food security. Very little is known about the population biology of the MoT. Therefore, understanding the population biology of wheat blast is important. Screening of current populations from Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay was performed using 30 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and retrotransposon microsatellite amplified polymorphism (REMAP) primers. Genes for MLST were also screened using primer sets targeting conserved genes and genes involved in different cellular functions. Combined phylogenetic analyses using ISSR and REMAP loci was able to differentiate populations from the three different regions based on 151 total loci, including 119 polymorphic and 32 monomorphic loci; showed 78.80% of percent polymorphism. The MLST based on genes involved in cellular function was found to be informative for the population genetics study. The screening of more markers for the population study is underway. This study will provide valuable information about genetic variation within and among current MoT populations of value for disease management and for the development of reliable and accurate detection tools for this emerging disease.