INTRASPECIFIC DIFFERENTIATION OF AUREOBAS IDIUM SPP USING UNIVERSALLYPRIMED POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Universally primed polymerase chain reaction (UP-PCR) was used to anal yze intraspecific variation in previously diagnosed biological species of yeastlike Aureobasidium fungi. No correlation between PCR-polymorp hism acid the origin of fungal strains was revealed. It is suggested t hat Aureobasidium species studied differ in the width of their ecologi cal niches: species I is cosmopolitan, whereas species II demonstrates relative substrate specificity. The ability of different universal pr imers to operate as conservative or variable ones in experiments with different species and genera was confirmed. This ability is explained by different rates of evolution of amplified loci. Hybridization analy sis of amplified DNA is suggested as a necessary step in classifying s trains with insufficient similarity of PCR patterns as belonging to th e same divergent species or to different species.