Abstract:
Macrophomina phaseolina is an important soil-borne pathogen causing charcoal rot in
many important crop plants including sesame, in Iran. A total of 60 isolates of M.
phaseolina were collected from the main sesame producing regions in ten provinces of
Iran. The genetic diversity among M. phaseolina populations was estimated using InterSimple
Sequence Repeat (ISSR), focusing particularly on geographic differentiation. Five
ISSR primers generated 105 discernible DNA bands, of which 85 (77.11%) were
polymorphic. The greatest value of variability (PPB: 60.00%; H: 0.185; I: 0.284) was
estimated for Fars population, whereas the least variability (PPB: 9.52%; H: 0.042; I:
0.060) was estimated for Kerman population. Total gene diversity exhibited high levels of
variability (HT = 0.186). Analysis of molecular variance indicated a large proportion of
genetic variability within populations.
Keywords: Sesamum indicum L, ISSR, Geographic populations, Genetic differentiation
