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Genetic Diversity and Invasion Pathways of Cryphonectria parasitica in Croatia and Slovenia Inferred by SCAR Markers

The ascomycete fungus Cryphonectria parasitica is an aggressive pathogen of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) introduced into Europe at the beginning of 20th century. Since then, it has spread throughout the chestnut-growing areas, with higher diversity in older populations and lower diversity in expanding ranges. To reconstruct the invasion events and estimate diversity of C. parasitica in Croatia and Slovenia, 180 samples were genotyped using 11 sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. Eight were found to be polymorphic, and 66 different haplotypes were identified. Our research suggests two separate introductions of C. parasitica in these regions and implies northern Italy as the first source of infection, with the subsequent introduction from south-eastern Europe, which contributed significantly to the diversity of the C. parasitica in our study area. We speculated that most haplotypes have been derived through sexual recombination between a few divergent haplotypes, which suggests that multiple introductions and sexual reproduction are important for the formation of genetically diverse C. parasitica populations.

diversity; invasion; Cryphonectria parasitica

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