VIEW ARTICLE

Genetics

Use of the RAPD Technique for Identification of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi from Carnation. S. Manulis, Department of Plant Pathology, ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel; N. Kogan, M. Reuven, and Y. Ben-Yephet. Department of Plant Pathology, ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel. Phytopathology 84:98-101. Accepted for publication 31 August 1993. Copyright 1994 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-84-98.

The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was used to distinguish among pathogenic and nonpathogenic isolates of Fusarium oxysporum recovered from carnation. Fifty-eight isolates, which were isolated in Israel from different cultivars of carnation, included 42 pathogenic isolates of race 2, one pathogenic isolate of race 4, and 15 nonpathogenic isolates. These isolates were examined for RAPD patterns with 30 arbitrary primers of 10 bases. The RAPD patterns generated by each of 22 primers enabled us to distinguish clearly between pathogenic and nonpathogenic isolates from carnation. The amplification patterns of race 2 isolates were identical for all the primers examined. Seventeen of 22 primers enabled differentiation between races 2 and 4. A 1.4-kb amplified DNA probe obtained from a pathogenic isolate of race 2 exclusively hybridized with DNA of race 2 isolates. Compared with other methods of identifying F. o. f. sp. dianthi, the RAPD procedure is simple, rapid, and reproducible.