Genetic diversity of Ustilago hordei the causal agent of barley covered smut using RAPD marker in Khuzestan province

Ustilago hordei (Pres) Lagerh is a fungus that causes covered smut of barley. This disease reduces yield and is a limiting factor in barley fields of Iran. One hundred forty four isolates of U. hordei were collected from 36 regions of Khuzestan province during 2009 and the genetic diversity of 100 isolates was evaluated by molecular markers. Four out of 14 primers were selected on the basis of successful amplification, reproducibility and production of DNA polymorphic bands. Four RAPD primers amplified 71 loci of which 63 were polymorphic. The maximum and minimum polymorphisms were obtained by OPA04 (19 Loci) and OPA10 (11 Loci), respectively. The highest PIC value was 0.33 (OPA18) but OPA03 and OPA10 primers had the lowest amount (0.29). Two primers, OPA04 and OPA18, showed highest MI and can be used for studying genetic diversity of U. hordei throughout the country. Cluster analysis of banding patterns from all four primers placed isolates into 46 fingerprint groups using UPGMA and Jaccard’s coefficient. This is the first study on genetic diversity of U. hordei using molecular marker.