Phytophthora infestans field isolates from Gansu province, China are genetically highly diverse and show a high frequency of self fertility.

The genetic diversity of 85 isolates of Phytophthora infestans collected in 2007 from Gansu province in China was determined and compared with 21 isolates collected before 2004. Among them, 70 belonged to the A1 mating type and 15 were self-fertile (SF). The mitochondrial DNA haplotypes revealed both Ia (25%) and IIa (75%) haplotypes. Metalaxyl resistance occurred with high frequency (54%) in Gansu. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) genotyping revealed 26 genotypes (13 from the Tianshui region) among the 85 isolates, and 18 genotypes among the 21 isolates collected before 2004, without overlap in genotypes detected in the two groups. Cluster analysis showed clear subdivisions within the different mating type isolates. Among Gansu's isolates, Nei's and Shannon's diversity indices were highest in isolates collected in Tianshui where both A1 and SF isolates were found. Analysis of molecular variance of isolates from Gansu indicated that 51% and 49% of the variance was explained by within-area and among-area variance, respectively. The results suggest that the occurrence of SF isolates increases the risk of sexual reproduction, the formation of oospore as initial inocula in the field, and affects the genotypic diversity in the population.