Canadian Forest Service Publications
Population structure and dynamics of the biocontrol agent Chondrostereum purpureum (Abstract) 1996. Becker, E.M.; Ramsfield, T.D.; Ball, L.A.; Shamoun, S.F.; Hintz, W.E. Page 29 in Healthy Plants, Healthy Planet APS/MSA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-31, 1996, Indianapolis, Indiana. American Phytopathological Society, Indianapolis, IN.
Year: 1996
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 4594
Language: English
Availability: Not available through the CFS (click for more information).
Abstract
The white-rot basidiomycete fungus Chondrostereum purpureum has excellent potential for development as a biological control of North American forest weed species. We are developing molecular genetic markers to study the natural population biology of C. purpureum and to monitor the environmental fate of specific isolates applied as a biological control. We have characterized restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in the intergenic spacer region of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) repeat which allow differentiation of inter-continental isolates. Frequencies of rDNA nuclear types within North America suggest there have been no significant barriers to gene flow on this continent. Work is in progress to develop molecular markers that can be used to identify specific C. purpureum isolates and to study population structure and dynamics on an intra-continental scale. Several methods, including random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), sequence-characterized amplified regions (SCAR), and direct DNA sequencing, are being applied.