Genetic variability within Fusarium solani specie as revealed by PCR-fingerprinting based on pcr markers

fusarium solani fungus (teleomorph haematonectria haematococca) is of relevance for agriculture, producing a disease that causes significant losses for many cultivars. moreover, f. solani is an opportunistic pathogen to animals and humans. the complexity associated to its correct identification by traditional methods justifies the efforts of using molecular markers for isolates characterization. in this work, three pcr-based methods (one pcr-ribotyping and two pcr-fingerprinting) were used to investigate the molecular variability of eighteen f. solani isolates from four brazilian states, collected from different substrates. genetic analysis revealed the intraspecific variability within the f. solani isolates, without any correlation to their geographical origin and substrate. its polymorphism was observed even in the very conserved sequence of rdna locus, and the spar marker (gtg)5 showed the highest polymorphism. together, those results may contribute to understand the relation between fungal genetic variability and cultivars resistance phenotypes to fungal-caused diseases, helping plant-breeding programs.