FUNGI AND LICHENS IN THE BALTICS AND BEYOND XVIII ...

North America. Presence of this fungus in alder species from different subgenera (i.e. Alnus
and Alnobetula (Ehrh.) Peterm.) is an evidence of absence of species-specificity of the
pathogen and likelihood of its occurrence in other species.
The study of pathogenic mycobiota of leaves in natural alder populations revealed its
significant diversity. A complex of micromycetes was found on leaves of A. fruticosa Rupr.
in the nature reserve “Stolby” (Krasnoyarsk, Russia). Melampsoridium alni (Thum.) Dietel
and Microsphaera penicillata (Wallr. : Fr.) Lev. were found on the lower side of leaves.
Uredospori of rust fungi were damaged by hyperparasite Ramularia uredinis (W. Voss) Sacc.
(a new host for this Ramularia). A new species of sporodochial hyphomycete Cheiromycella
foliicola U. Braun, Melnik & Tomoshevich, sp. nov. was found on the upper side of leaves.
Acknowledgements. This work was partly supported by the Council of the city
Novosibirsk (grant № 35-10).
INVESTIGATION OF Venturia inaequalis POPULATION IN DIFFERENT
AGROECOSYSTEMS
A. VALIUŠKAITĖ*, E. SURVILIENĖ, D. BANIULIS
Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Kauno 30,
Babtai, Kaunas distr., Lithuania
E-mail: a.valiuskaite@lsdi.lt
The aim of the present study is to assess the variation of genetic structure of Venturia
inaequalis isolates originating from different agroecosystems. Specimens were collected from
Anykščiai, Biržai, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Pasvalys regions. Samples were collected from fruits
and leaves with characteristic symptoms of Venturia inaequalis infection grown at different
locations, average 10 specimens per region. Fungal cultures were established using wet
chamber and growth on solid medium methods and assessed microscopically. Isolates were
grown on Potato dextrose agar pH 5.0 (PDA) (Merck KGaA) at 20 ± 2°C in the dark for 2–3
weeks, and identified according to fungal identification manuals. AFLP samples were
prepared using AFLP Microbial fingerprinting kit (“Applied Biosystems” Ltd.) using
manufacturer instructions based on method described by Vos et al. (1995). Allele scoring was
performed using Gene Mapper v.4.0 (“Applied Biosystems” Ltd.). The scoring parameters of
50 to 500 bp range and higher than 50 rfu signal intensity was used. To assess genetic
distance of different isolates, cluster analysis was performed on Systat v.13 software (“Systat
Software” Ltd.) using hierarchical analysis algorithm of χ 2 distance.
An assessment of genetic polymorphism of the 22 selected Venturia inaequalis
isolates using AFLP method with three pairs of primers with one selective nucleotide resulted
in identification of 630 polymorphic alleles. Cluster analysis of genetic similarity of the
isolates revealed seven distinct groups with genetic distance value less than 0.5. A high
genetic polymorphism characterized different geographical areas. It was found that genetic
diversity was characteristic of geographic area boundaries. Genetic groups with genetic
similarity were associated with a common origin of the planting material.
Acknowledgements. The study was supported by the Research Council of Lithuania
(Acronym GENŪKIS, 2008–2009).