DNA probes for identification of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Tuber magnatum Pico

The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used to develop DNA probes for the identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi belonging to the genus Tuber. RAPD fingerprinting revealed a high degree of interspecific variability and a low degree of intraspecific variability. One band (approximately 1.5 kb), consistently appearing when genomic DNA was amplified with an aspecific primer (OPA-18), was found to be a good marker for Tuber magnatum, and was used as a probe in Southern hybridization experiments. The specificity of the results suggests that this probe may be useful in developing specific primers for PCR amplifications.