DNA fingerprinting and analysis of population structure in the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica

A dispersed, moderately repetitive sequence in Cryphonectria parasistica, thecausal agent of chestnut blight, was cloned in pMS5 and used for DNA fingerprinting studies. DNA fingerprint analysis showed that pMS5 detected two linked fragments. Hybridization patterns did not change during vegetative growth or during sporulation. The results showed that the C. parasitica population is partly clonal in structure, with 6 of the 33 fingerprint genotypes occurring twice. However, a large portion of the individuals in the population result from sexual reproduction.