Genotypic and Pathogenic Diversity Among Pea-Infecting Strains of Aphanomyces euteiches from the Central and Western United States.

ABSTRACT Pathogenic and genotypic variability among four populations of Aphanomyces euteiches from individual fields in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon were investigated using pathogenicity and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses. About 50 strains were isolated from each of two pea fields in Minnesota, and 11 and 6 strains from pea fields in Wisconsin and Oregon, respectively, using pea (Pisum sativum) as a baiting host. Pathogenic variability and host range were evaluated in greenhouse studies with five pea lines or cultivars having different levels of resistance to Aphanomyces root rot and one cultivar each of alfalfa and snap bean. All strains were pathogenic on one or more pea cultivars, and 18 and 14% were pathogenic on alfalfa and bean, respectively. Disease severity incited by different strains varied significantly on individual pea cultivars and on all hosts combined. The percentage of strains pathogenic on different hosts varied among locations. Genotypic variation among all 114 strains was evaluated with RAPD analysis. Ten decanucleotide primers detected 92 polymorphic bands. Cluster and principal coordinates analysis revealed one large group containing 102 of the 114 strains from all locations. Two closely related minor groups of strains (12 strains) were genotypically distinct, with about 55% similarity to the main group of 102 strains. The strains in the minor groups were all isolated from the Minnesota locations and were pathogenic on two disease-resistant pea breeding lines (MN313 and MN314). Estimates of genetic diversity based on RAPD analysis ranged from 0.24 to 0.33 within populations to 0.35 among all strains from all populations. A. euteiches populations were genotypically and phenotypically variable, but no distinct genotypic differences were identified among populations from the four isolated locations.