Genetic variability of Pisolithus isolates associated with native hosts and exotic eucalyptus in the western Mediterranean region

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Abstract
Summary: • Genetic diversity and host specificity of Pisolithus is reported here in exotic (Eucalyptus) and native hosts in the western Mediterranean region. • Polymorphism in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of the nuclear rDNA of Pisolithus was analysed. Sequences for 17 isolates associated with native Mediterranean hosts and Eucalyptus were compared with those in the GenBank DNA database using distance and parsimony methods. • Bootstrap analysis showed clustering of all Pisolithus isolates associated with Mediterranean hosts. The ITS sequences suggest the occurrence of several ecological species adapted to exploit different soil types (basic, acid and clayey slate‐derived soils), with specificity for particular indigenous hosts. Isolates from eucalypt plantations in Brazil, Kenya and the Mediterranean grouped together with eucalypt‐associated Australian isolates. Transfer to native hosts did not occur; the host specificity range of these exotic strains might prevent out‐competition and interbreeding with local species. • Pisolithus spp. in eucalypt plantations in the Mediterranean basin are of Australian origin; the co‐introduction of the ectomycorrhizal fungi might explain the success of these exotic forest plantations.