RANDOM AMPLIFIED MICROSATELLITES (RAMS) - A NOVEL METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING GENETIC-VARIATION WITHIN FUNGI

A novel method, Random Amplified Microsatellites (RAMS, due to the nat ure of amplified markers as two randomly amplified microsatellites wit h the intervening sequence), was applied to generate DNA markers in a variety of fungi (Armillaria cepistipes, Gremmeniella abietina, Hetero basidion annosum, Phytophthora cactorum, Phlebiopsis gigantea, and Ste reum sanguinolentum). It is based on the polymerase chain reaction (PC R), and uses primers containing microsatellite sequences and degenerat e anchors at the 5' end. The method is highly reproducible, applicable to all tested fungal species including members of the Phycomycetes, A scomycetes and Basidiomycetes, and allows detection of interspecific a nd intraspecific DNA-polymorphisms.