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Genetic diversity of Dothistroma septosporum in Estonia, Finland and Czech Republic

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Abstract

Dothistroma needle blight is one of the most damaging foliage diseases in pine plantations worldwide. Recently it has become more aggressive in native pine stands in northern America and has been found frequently on Scots pine stands in northern Europe. In Estonia and Finland it was noticed for the first time in 2006 and 2008, respectively and in Central Europe in the late 1990s. We show considerable diversity in allele patterns of several microsatellite loci in populations of these countries which does not support the hypothesis of a recent introduction. We investigated 104 isolates by using eight microsatellite loci. Estonian and Finnish isolates originated from P. sylvestris and those from the Czech Republic from six species of Pinus spp. and Pseudotsuga menziesii. The genetic diversity was considerable in all three populations, and did not differ significantly between populations. The results suggest slight migration from south to north, even if no similar haplotypes were found between any of the populations. Both, the pairwise genetic differentiation and Nei’s genetic distance reflected geographic distances between the populations. Differentiation between the studied populations of D. septosporum was low but statistically significant. Only 6 % of the genetic variation was due to differences between populations. The high haplotypic diversity, low number of identical haplotypes, and low degree of genetic disequilibrium in all investigated populations suggested occurrence of sexual proliferation in this area, although the sexual state of the fungus has not been recorded in Estonia and Finland. The high diversity may suggest a long presence of D. septosporum in northern Europe, or alternatively, its recent introduction as a massive inoculum from an unknown direction.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thankfully acknowledge Marja-Leena Santanen, for her help in the laboratory, Annukka Korpijaakko and Allar Padari for technical assistance; Katrin Drenkhan, Věra Tomešová and Dagmar Palovčíková for laboratory work; Dr. Pekka Pamilo for advice in interpretation of statistical results; and Mr. Terry Bush from Madison, Wisconsin, USA, for the language revision. The study was supported by the Estonian Environmental Investments Centre and The National Agency for Agriculture Research of the Czech Republic, grant number QH81039.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering, Kreutzwaldi 5, 51014, Tartu, Estonia

    R. Drenkhan

  2. Vantaa Research Unit, Finnish Forest Research Institute, PO Box 18, 01301, Vantaa, Finland

    J. Hantula & M. M. Müller

  3. Suonenjoki Research Unit, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Juntintie 154, 77600, Suonenjoki, Finland

    M. Vuorinen

  4. Department of Forest Pathology and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 61300, Brno, Czech Republic

    L. Jankovský

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  1. R. Drenkhan
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  2. J. Hantula
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Drenkhan, R., Hantula, J., Vuorinen, M. et al. Genetic diversity of Dothistroma septosporum in Estonia, Finland and Czech Republic. Eur J Plant Pathol 136, 71–85 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-012-0139-6

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