Molecular and morphological characterization of the willow rust fungus, Melampsora epitea, from arctic and temperate hosts in North America

Current taxonomy places all rust fungi that occur on willow (Salix spp.) in North America in one species complex, Melampsora epitea Thüm. Characteristics of M. epitea isolates from the Canadian arctic were compared to M. epitea isolates from temperate regions of North America. Sequences from intern...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mycologia 2004-11, Vol.96 (6), p.1330-1338
Main Authors: Smith, Jason A., Blanchette, Robert A., Newcombe, George
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
arctic fungal diversity
Biological taxonomies
fungal anatomy
fungal phylogenetics
Fungal spores
fungal taxonomy
Glacial lakes
host plants
Infections
internal transcribed spacers
Melampsora
Melampsora epitea
Melampsoraceae
Molecular Evolution and Systematics
molecular systematics
Parasite hosts
Parsimony
Phylogenetics
phylogeny
plant pathogenic fungi
Plants
ribosomal DNA
rust diseases
Salix
Species
Temperate regions
temperate zones
tree diseases
Uredinales
willow diseases
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Summary:Current taxonomy places all rust fungi that occur on willow (Salix spp.) in North America in one species complex, Melampsora epitea Thüm. Characteristics of M. epitea isolates from the Canadian arctic were compared to M. epitea isolates from temperate regions of North America. Sequences from internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNA were obtained from urediniospores from rust-infected Salix leaves collected in the Canadian arctic and in Minnesota and compared. Phylogenetic analysis of nuclear ribosomal ITS regions indicated that arctic M. epitea samples were divergent from temperate M. epitea isolates, perhaps in part because all rusts examined diverged according to host species. Four urediniospore characteristics were examined: area, circularity (shape factor), major axis length and spine density. Statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences were observed for spine density among all host species except S. nigra and S. bebbiana. However major axis length differed between these species. These results represent the first evidence that arctic and temperate Melampsora species on Salix hosts in North America have evolved distinct molecular and morphological characters.
ISSN:0027-5514
1557-2536
DOI:10.1080/15572536.2005.11832882