Characterising the Genetic Diversity of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae Isolated from Rice and Wheat in Iran

DARIUSH S., EBADI A.A., KHOSHKDAMAN M., RABIEI B., ELAHINIA A. (2012): Characterising the genetic diversity of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae isolated from rice and wheat in Iran. Plant Protect. Sci., 48: 162-169. Sheath rot of rice and leaf blight of wheat caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae are the important bacterial pathogens of rice and wheat in Iran. The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was used to investigate the genetic diversity of 60 strains of P. s. pv. syringae obtained from rice and wheat in different growth stages. Cluster analysis by UPGMA method showed that strains were grouped into two clusters. The AMOVA analysis indicated that about 18% of the total genetic variation existed between two populations of rice and wheat, which showed the lack of host specialization in P. s. pv. syringae strains among rice and wheat. We confirmed that high genetic heterogeneity existed in the P s. pv. syringae strains which are detectable by RAPD analysis, and that molecular and statistical analysis of RAPD fragments can be used both to distinguish between strains and to determine relatedness between them.