Patterns of genetic variation in Phialocephala fortinii across a broad latitudinal transect in Canada

Dark septate root endophytes (DSE) are an artificial assemblage of fungi that have darkly pigmented, septate hyphae and that are frequent or distinctive intracellular associates of roots of apparently healthy plants. Based on isolates obtained from the roots of Salix spp., the distribution of a common DSE fungus, Phialocephala fortinii, was examined along a latitudinal transect in Canada running from the high arctic to the 49 degrees N parallel. Non-sporulating isolates were provisionally identified as P. fortinii through analysis of DNA sequence data of the ITS2 region of rDNA. P. fortinii was isolated frequently from boreal and arctic habitats, but rarely from grassland habitats. Patterns of genetic variation were examined through analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP). All AFLP profiles were unique with the majority of genetic variation occurring among individuals within the collecting sites at each latitude. Neighbour-joining analysis of genetic distances yielded eight well-supported clusters, three of which included individuals from more than one latitude. Some linkage disequilibrium, possibly due to partial clonality, was detected.