Morphological and genetic differentiation among four pigment producing Indian species of Phoma (Saccardo, 1899).

A PCR-based technique, involving the random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), was used for assessing genetic relatedness among isolates of the genus Phoma. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) revealed the presence of interspecific genetic variation among the pigment producing isolates of Phoma and has shown distinct phylogenetic cluster. The major objective of the study was to study the genetic variation, if any. Study was aimed to differentiate four pigment producing species of Phoma based on morphological studies and molecular markers in general and RAPD in particular. We found that the test species of Phoma can be very well differentiated using molecular markers. Phoma sorghina was differentiated from P. exigua, P. fimeti and P. herbarum. RAPD profiles of P. herbarum and P. fimeti has shown the maximum similarity, which indicates the genetic relatedness among these two species which were considered earlier as distinct species based on morphological observation.