Intersporal genetic variation of Gigaspora margarita, a vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, revealed by M13 minisatellite-primed PCR

Spores of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi contain thousands of nuclei, In order to understand the karyotic structure of a VAM fungus spore, the genetic variation of the first generation of spores from a VAM fungus (Gigaspora margarita) was examined, Spores originating from both single- and multispore inoculations of the species G, margarita were analyzed by M13 minisatellite-primed PCR, In both cases, different fingerprints were obtained from individual spores with few spores exhibiting similar fingerprints, These results can be explained only by a heterokaryotic status of the nuclear population within a spore.