Genetic diversity of Monilinia spp. species within β-tubulin gene

The main disease of pome and stone fruit plants in Rosaceae family is brown rot. This disease reduces the fruit quality during and post-harvest period and cause about 30% yield losses each year. Brown rot is caused by worldwide spread Monilinia spp. pathogens: Monilinia laxa, M. polystroma, M. fructigena and M. fructicola. Monilinia laxa and M.fructigena are considered indigenous in Europe, M. polystroma – origin was first identified in Japan, while Monilinia fructicola is named “New World” pathogen and is indigenous in USA and Australia. Despite M. fructicola has been discovered in thirteen European countries, the pathogen is in the list of quarantine pathogens in Europe. Appearance of the mycelium of this fungus is similar to other Monilinia pathogens. Therefore, only molecular methods are reliable for identification of this pathogen. In Lithuania this invasive pathogen is still absent according to results of molecular analysis. Knowledge of the genetic diversity of Monilinia spp. is required for the control of this fungal disease spread. The genomes of all four Monilia spp. pathogens are sequenced, using the next generation of “Illumina“ platform and uploaded to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank database. Relationship between pathogens can be investigated according to polymorphism of certain genes. Tubulin coding gene is major components of microtubules that are important for cell division and intracellular transport. β-tubulin forms the building block of the microtubule by assemble in a head-to-tail heterodimers. In the NCBI GenBank data base 1879 records for Monilinia spp. were found while only 2 records in NCBI Refseq secondary data base.[...]Gamtos mokslų fakultetasLietuvos agrarinių ir miškų mokslų centro Sodininkystės ir daržininkystės institutasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta