Spatial pattern of genetic diversity in field populations of Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex

Fusarium is associated with a number of wilt, blight, scab and rot diseases in a range of economically important staple food crops worldwide. An assessment of the genetic structure and population stratification of Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC) pathogen populations is important to understand the evolutionary potential of such populations in adapting to environmental change. Based on inter-simple sequence repeat polymerase chain reaction (ISSR-PCR), it was found that the pathogen population was structured into three genetic clusters for which genetic differentiation was higher within than among populations. There was high intra-population genetic diversity for population 1 (94.63%) which consisted largely of isolates collected from North Trinidad. Populations 2 and 3 had a low level of admixture among the populations based on overall population differentiation. Population 1 accounted for the highest amount of genetic variation (95.82%) followed by populations 2 and ...