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Genetics

Vegetative Compatibility Groups in Leucocytospora kunzei. T. J. Proffer, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1312; J. H. Hart, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1312. Phytopathology 78:256-260. Accepted for publication 29 July 1987. Copyright 1988 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-78-256.

Vegetative compatibility groups (v-c groups) in Leucocytospora kunzei were demonstrated by pairing isolates on potato-dextrose agar and observing the reaction along the line of contact of the expanding colonies. By this method, 487 isolates of L. kunzei, from 196 cankers on 121 trees, were examined. The isolates were obtained primarily from infected Picea spp. located in urban sites in Michigan and in one forest site in Colorado. Thirty-six single v-c groups and eight multi-merge groups in L. kunzei were identified. In 152 of 154 cases, multiple isolates recovered from a given canker were in the same v-c group. Within a tree or among closely spaced trees, a single or a few v-c groups predominated. Some v-c groups contained isolates from different species of Picea or from distant sites. Vegetative compatibility groups do not segregate during conidiogenesis in L. kunzei.