Genetic diversity of Puccinia triticina populations from Romania analysed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA technique

The objective of the study was to analyse 10 populations of Puccinia triticina collected between the years 2011 and 2014 from different Romanian fields (Fundulea, Livada, Albota-Pitesti), using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique with 8 UBC primers. In the local populations were detected 19 RAPD phenotypes of P. triticina and the molecular phenotypes distinguished by each primer generally varied by 1 - 3 bands. There are currently 3 major groups of P. triticina in Romania as determinate by the UPGMA clustering analysis. This clustering arrangement has been influenced by the host selection and by the geographical area. A high degree of genetic diversity was found among leaf rust fungus populations isolated in the same year (2012) and field (Fundulea) from wheat and Triticales, with a similarity of 25%. The molecular variation observed within the P. triticina population isolated from wheat grown on Fundulea field suggested that a new phenotype arise in the year 2014. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the genetic diversity in the local populations of cereal rust pathogen, isolated from Romania.