TITLE	Using random amplified polymorphic DNA to analyze the genetic relationships and variability among three species of wheat smut (Tilletia)
AUTHOR	David R. Gang Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, USA Darrell J. Weber Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, USA
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ABSTRACT	Covered smut or bunt of wheat, caused by Tilletia caries, T. foetida (T. laevis), and dwarf bunt, caused by T. controversa, are significant pathogens of wheat. However, the molecular and genetic make-ups of these fungi have not been studied extensively. The extremely long time required to germinate the Tilletia controversa teliospores, their thick walls and high lipid content have discouraged extensive genetic analyses of the fungi by methods such as RFLP or RAPD. We recently developed a method to extract genomic DNA from the thick-walled teliospores of Tilletia. This method was used to extract the genomic DNA from 90 smut samples. The average Tilletia DNA yield per infected wheat head was significantly different for T. controversa as compared to T. caries and T. foetida (T. laevis). RAPD reactions were performed with the 90 Tilletia individuals and 13 random primers. The resulting RAPD patterns were scored for presence or absence of specific fragments and this information was tabulated for each sample in a large data matrix. The total number of RAPD fragments per individual and per primer were calculated. A high level of genetic variability was observed between species, races, and even individuals of the same race of Tilletia. Cluster analysis of the RAPD banding patterns distinguished races of Tilletia caries, T. foetida (T. laevis), and T. controversa. No race- or species-specific markers were identified.
KEYWORD	Genetic analysis; Genomic DNA; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA; Tilletia;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 37 Number 3 July 1996, page 173-180, 8 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China