Grass endophyte researches 5. Genetic diversity in some Chinese epichloё endophytes

Mutualistic associations between epichloё endophytes and gramineous plants are receiving more and more attention. Investigations of the endophytes’ diversity are facilitative to understand their biologicalproperties and evolutionary relationships. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to investigate genetic diversity and evolutionary characteristics of 24 endophytic fungal isolates. Isolates from Calamagrostis sp., Bromus sp., Elymus sp. and Festuca parvigluma Steud. significantly clustered respectively; clusters for Neotyphodium isolates obtained from Roegeria spp. showed comparatively complicated, while isolates obtained from Poa spp. tended to be divided into three groups. It could be concluded that the genetic relationship among the epichloё endophytes native to China is quite diverse. The results also indicated the mutualistic relationship between Calamagrostis sp. collected from Nanjing and its endophyte could be traced back to ancient time.