Occurrence of Pythium ultimum var. ultimum in a greenhouse on Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard

Pythium ultimum var. ultimum was isolated from carrot seedlings with dampin g off and from soil used for growing the plant in a greenhouse on Spitsberg en Island, Svalbard. The fungus caused severe damping off of carrot, cucumb er and tomato seedlings after artificial inoculation. The rDNA internal tra nscribed spacer sequences of the Svalbard isolate were identical to those o f Canadian and Japanese isolates of P. ultimum var. ultimum. The results su ggest that the pathogen in the greenhouse on Svalbard was probably introduc ed from temperate regions through contaminated plants and/or soil imported to the island. This is the first record of P. ultimum var. ultimum within t he Arctic zone.