Genetic and phenotypic structure of Magnaporthe oryzae populations of two upland rice cultivars was determined. Monoconidial isolates were obtained from rice blast affected fields, four from cv. BRS Bonança and four from cv. Primavera, in Goias State (2001-2003). The pathotypes IB-41 and IB-9 were predominant in both leaf and panicle isolates of BRS Bonança and IF-1 in Primavera. A great majority of pathotypes were common to both leaf and panicle subpopulations of Bonança (42.8%) and Primavera (66.6%). The ANOVA of virulence data showed high variability within population of each cultivar. There was no significant difference in virulence pattern of isolates from leaves and panicles, independent of collection site and cultivar. The molecular characterization of isolates was done employing the rep-PCR analysis with two primer sequences from Pot2. The genetic analysis of 538 isolates showed a high genotypic diversity in both leaf and panicle pathogen populations with 103 haplotypes in Bonança and 49 in Primavera. The migration of pathotypes from leaves to panicles in each field was 70.8% and 36.6% for Primavera and BRS Bonança, respectively. The diversity of M. oryzae population was influenced by cultivar of origin. A great amount of population diversity was encountered within the same field.
Pyricularia grisea; virulence; Rep-PCR; rice blast
