Molecular identification of Fomes fomentarius in hosts from urban and suburban areas in Slovakia

Abstract

Intraspecific, genetic diversity was studied in the wood-decaying fungus Fomes fomentarius
using the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) sequence analysis. Fourteen different isolates
originating from six host plant genera from the Slovakian urban and suburban areas (Central
Europe) were compared. Based on ITS sequences comparison, two different genotypes were found.
Genotype A consists of the two isolates from Fagus sylvatica and Negundo aceroides, whereas
genotype B consists of isolates from all host plants (excluding Negundo aceroides). There only
exists one host tree species (Fagus sylvatica) that hosts both fungal genotypes. Moreover, this host
clearly represents two different genotypes from the same kind of urban and suburban habitat. Our
study appears to be the first report of the heterogeneity within the ITS region of F. fomentarius
from urban trees. Our data indicate that the occurrence of F. fomentarius genotypes is affected by
characters such as host plant species and kinds of urban habitats, but not by geographical location.