Genetic variation of southern rust fungus of corn in Japan

Abstract

To investigate the genetic variation among Japanese isolates of the southern rust pathogen of corn, Puccinia polysora UNDERWOOD, the RFLP of the 5.8S rDNA plus ITS1 and ITS2 regions was analysed. The ITS regions of 14 P. polysora isolates and a P. sorghi isolate were succesfully amplified with whole DNAs extracted from infected leaves. When the ITS regions of the P. polysola isolates were restricted with Hae III, Mbo I, Nla III or Taq I, two RFLP patterns were detected. Results suggest there were at least two genetic groups in Japanese P. polysola. Each group consisted of isolates from different locations and dates of collected. P. polysola could easily be distinguished from P. sorghi by the RFLP patterns of the ITS regions.