Genetic diversity of poplar leaf rust populations in the north-central United States

Uredinia of poplar leaf rust, Melampsora medusae Thum f.sp. deltoides, appeared in late July 1998, June 1999, and August 2000 in a cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) stand in Ames, Iowa. Seedlings of the alternate host (eastern larch, Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch) set out at the site in spring 2000 formed aecia 3 months before uredinia appeared. Using three PCR-based microsatellite markers, the aecial population was genetically diverse and in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, typical of a population that had gone through sexual reproduction. Uredinia populations in 1998-2000 had lower levels of gene diversities (from 0.58 to 0.71) and were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Of nine populations in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri during the early stage of the 1999 epidemic, the two populations with the highest gene diversity, the highest level of heterozygosity, and the greatest number of unique genotypes were within the natural geographic range of larch. However, the southernmost population in Missouri was also in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Epidemics started sooner in Iowa than in Minnesota, which contradicts the hypothesis that epidemics begin in northern regions where the alternate hosts naturally overlap. Epidemics appeared to commence independently in the various locations, perhaps focused around areas where ornamental larch is in proximity to P. deltoides.