Genetic Relationship between Korean Verticillium dahliae Isolates and the Other Verticillium Species

(Received 13, December 2010., Accepted 24, March 2011)ABSTRACT : To provide basic information for Verticillium spp., molecular methods were applied to analyze geneticcharacteristics within Verticillium spp. including Verticillium dahliae, isolated from diseased plants in two regionsof Korea. Five Korean isolates of V. dahliae causing Verticillium wilt on chrysanthemum were analyzed, togetherwith six other Verticillium spp., using mitochondrial small subunit rRNA gene (rns) sequence and random-amplifiedpolymorphic DNA (RAPD). In a phylogenetic tree based on rns region sequences, Korean V. dahliae isolates formeda single clade with foreign isolates, whereas the other Verticillium spp. formed separate groups. In addition to rnssequence analysis, a dendrogram based on RAPD fragment patterns also showed clustering of all V. dahliae isolatesinto one group, separate from the six different Verticillium spp., and the V. dahliae isolates formed three subgroupswhich corresponded to the regions of origin, Kumi, Busan city and Canada. This indicates that high genetic vari-ation exists between regions, although the fungus was isolated from the same host plant, chrysanthemum. These resultsprovide the foundation for the study of genetic diversity and relationships among V. dahliae isolates in Korea.KEYWORDS : Genetic relationship, Mitochondrial small subunit rRNA gene (rns), Phylogeny analysis, RAPD,Verticillium dahliae