Genetic variation in Armillaria mellea subsp. nipponica estimated using IGS-RFLP and AFLP analyses

In this study, genetic variation of Armillaria mellea subsp. nipponica was estimated using intergenic spacer-restriction fragment length polymorphism (IGSRFLP) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses. Four IGS-RFLP phenotypes were produced, of which two have never been reported. AFLP analysis suggested that the 11 isolates used could be divided into five subgroups, and the isolates within the same subgroup were distributed throughout a relatively large area in Japan. A parental isolate and its offspring (single-spore isolates) showed an almost identical AFLP profile to each other. These results suggest that the large distribution of the isolates within the same subgroup were established via the basidiospore from a common parental strain.