Population structure of heterobasidion annosum in Turkish pineregeneration area in Gölhisar-İbecik district

Basidiomycetes belonging to the Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. are some of the most destructive disease agents of conifers in all temperate countries in the Northern Hemisphere causing root and butt rot. Significant economic losses by Heterobasidion species in forestry make them the most widely studied forest fungi in the world. In this thesis, population structure of H. annosum in Turkish pine regeneration area in Gölhisar-Ibecik district was investigated. A total of 182 isolates were obtained in disease centers in which the agent was observed. As a result of the pairing tests, all of the Heterobasidion isolates were found to be 96.9% compatible with the H. annosum s.s. test isolates. Morphological diagnostic studies were supported by PCR amplifications performed with species specific MJ primer pair. According to the results of somatic pairing test to determine genetic diversity, H. annosum isolates were found to belong to 34 different genets. When the results of PCR-based molecular analyzes performed with RAMS and M13 markers were evaluated as a whole, it was concluded that 49% of the total molecular variation occurred between the disease centers and 51% was caused by individual differences within the populations. The DNA band lengths obtained from amplification with these primers varied between 350-1500 bp. The overall polymorphism rate of alleles was 53.2%. In terms of the total number of alleles obtained, (CCA)5 and (TCG)5 RAMS primers produced the most polymorphic bands, while the least number of bands were produced by the M13 primer. AMOVA, UPGMA, PCoA, Cluster and TWINSPAN analysis methods were used in the evaluation of the population structure of the pathogen. Also in this study, potential distribution mapping for the study area was carried out by associating the data related to environmental factors that may affect the spread of the disease with the help of MAXENT approach.