RAPID MITOCHONDRIAL PROBES FOR ANALYSIS OF POLYMORPHISMS IN FUSARIUM-OXYSPORUM SPECIAL FORMS

A method is described for the production of simple mitochondrial DNA p robes from filamentous fungi for the partial characterization of mitoc hondrial DNA without the need for cloning, gradient centrifugation or PCR amplification. A probe (P449) consisting of a 3.38 kb mitochondria l fragment from an isolate of Fusarium oxysporum special form cubense was used to determine RFLPs in restriction digests of total DNA from 2 8 isolates of F. oxysporum from a variety of hosts and locations. The probe showed mtDNA polymorphisms within and between different special forms.