Source Year: 1998

Variation among 39 isolates of Phytophthora of 6 morphological species (P. citrophthora, P. {nicotianae var.} parasitica, P. capsici, P. palmivora and P. meadii, from rubber and citrus trees and P. colocasiae from taro) was studied using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Ten randomly chosen 10-mer primers were used. Generally, the banding patterns were similar within species and different between species, but no one primer was able to distinguish all 6 species from one another. Cluster analysis on pooled data from all the primers gave 6 groups of isolates corresponding to the 6 morphological species. The group corresponding to P. citrophthora was divided further into subgroups that were related to host species and geographical location. This work confirmed the existing morphological classification of Phytophthora isolates from rubber and citrus trees in tropical China and showed the validity of using RAPDs to study the taxonomy of Phytophthora.