VARIATION IN RIBOSOMAL DNA AMONG ISOLATES OF THE MYCORRHIZAL FUNGUS CENOCOCCUM-GEOPHILUM

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms in ribosomal DNA were used to assess the degree of variation among 71 Cenococcum geophilum isolates of both geographically distinct and similar origins. Southern hybridizations using cloned C. geophilum ribosomal DNA indicated extensive variation among isolates, greater than has been previously reported to occur within a fungal species. Most of the polymorphisms were located within the region from the intergenic spacer through internal transcribed spacer 1, Restriction-site and length polymorphisms also occurred within the 5.8S through 26S genic region. Sixteen size categories of length mutations, six restriction-site additions, and four restriction-site deletions were observed compared with a reference isolate. HindIII-digested DNAs displayed fewer polymorphisms in the mitochondrial 24S ribosomal RNA gene (and flanking regions) than in nuclear ribosomal DNA. UPGMA cluster analysis of shared nuclear ribosomal DNA patterns indicated 32 unique phenotypes and grouped C. geophilum isolates into a broad range of clusters ranging from 100 to 44% similarity. The amount of ribosomal DNA variation demonstrated in this study indicates that C. geophilum is either an extremely heterogenous species or a fungal complex representing a broader taxonomic rank than presently considered.