The population structure of Armillaria ostoyae in the central and southern interior of British Columbia

• Main Author: Dettman, Jeremy Richard
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/9677

The population structure of Armillaria ostoyae (Romagn.) Herink and Armillaria sinapina Berube & Dessureault was studied at two sites in the Interior of British Columbia using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis and somatic incompatibility testing. The first study site contained a small number of relatively large genets of Armillaria ostoyae. Each distinct infection center was occupied by a single genet of A. ostoyae, one of which displayed signs of a somatic mutation. Armillaria sinapina was also sampled from the first site but its population structure was considerably different from that of A. ostoyae. The second study site contained high densities of relatively small genets of A. ostoyae. It was estimated that over 70 % of the genets in this population occupied a domain less than one hectare in area. The distribution of genets could not be predicted by the distribution of mortality. The results of somatic incompatibility testing used to differentiate between genets corresponded with the results of RAPD analysis, with only one discrepancy. For both sites, regression analysis indicated no significant linear relationship between geographic distance and genetic similarity of genets. === Forestry, Faculty of === Graduate