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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #237838
Title: Population Genetic Analysis Infers Migration Pathways of Phytophthora ramorum in U.S. Nurseries

Author
item Goss, Erica
item Larsen, Meredith
item CHASTAGNER, GARY - WASHINGTON STATE UNIV
item GIVENS, DONALD - USDA APHIS
item Grunwald, Niklaus - Nik

Submitted to: PLoS Pathogens
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2009
Publication Date: 8/23/2009
Citation: Goss, E.M., Larsen, M.M., Chastagner, G., Givens, D., Grunwald, N.J. 2009. Population genetic analysis infers migration pathways of Phytophthora ramorum in U.S. nurseries. PLoS Pathogens. 5(9):e1000538.

Interpretive Summary: Sudden oak death, caused by the fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, has caused devastating levels of mortality of live oak and tanoak trees in coastal California forests and in urban and suburban landscapes in the San Francisco Bay area. This pathogen also causes non-lethal disease on popular ornamental plants, including rhododendrons, viburnums, and camellias. P. ramorum was discovered in California in the late 1990s and is exotic to the United States. Recently, presence of the disease in wholesale nurseries in California, Oregon, and Washington has led to shipments of diseased plants across the United States, thus risking the introduction of the pathogen to other vulnerable forests. We examined the genetic diversity of this pathogen in U.S. nurseries in order to better understand its evolution in nurseries and movement between states. We found that California populations were genetically different enough from Oregon and Washington populations that infestations of the pathogen found in nurseries in other states could be distinguished as having originated from California or the Northwest. Our inferences were consistent with trace-forward and trace-backward investigations by regulatory agencies.

Technical Abstract: Recently introduced, exotic plant pathogens may exhibit low genetic diversity and be limited to clonal reproduction. However, rapidly mutating molecular markers such as microsatellites can reveal genetic variation within these populations and be used to model putative migration patterns. Phytophthora ramorum is the exotic pathogen, discovered in the late 1990s, that is responsible for sudden oak death in California forests and ramorum blight of common ornamentals. The nursery trade has moved this pathogen from source populations on the West Coast to locations across the United States, thus risking introduction to other native forests. We examined the genetic diversity of P. ramorum in U.S. nurseries by microsatellite genotyping 279 isolates collected from 19 states between 2004 and 2007. Of the three known P. ramorum clonal lineages, the most common and genetically diverse lineage in the sample was NA1. Two eastward migration pathways were revealed in the clustering of NA1 isolates into only two groups, one containing isolates from Connecticut, Oregon, and Washington and the other isolates from California and the remaining states. This finding is consistent with trace-forward and trace-backward analyses conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. At the same time, several states showed genetic diversities as high as the three West Coast states and two-thirds of multilocus genotypes were limited in their distribution to one state. Together, these data suggest that migration, rapid mutation, and genetic drift all play a role in structuring the genetic diversity of P. ramorum in U.S. nurseries. This work demonstrates that fast-evolving genetic markers can be used to examine the evolutionary processes acting on recently introduced pathogens and to infer their putative migration patterns, thus showing promise for the application of forensics to plant pathogens.