Apple scab caused by the ascomycete Venturia inaequalis is an economically significant disease worldwide. The annual sexual reproduction of V. inaequalis leads to high variation, changes in the population's genetic structure and adaptations to the changing environment, including overcoming the host's resistance. The objective of this study is to characterise and assess the genetic diversity of V. inaequalis populations in two main apple-growing regions in Latvia. In total, 143 V. inaequalis isolates were collected from Latvia, six reference strains with known virulence were obtained from other countries, and all strains were genotyped by 12 SSR markers. The SSR markers were highly variable and informative, identifying 158 alleles that ranged from two to 29 per locus. The Bayesian clustering identified three genetic lineages among the Latvian isolates that did not correlate to the geographic origin, host genotype, organ (leaves or fruits) from which the pathogen was isolated, time of collection, and type of isolation (single conidium or ascospore). The possible relatedness to virulence was detected when reference strains with known virulence were included in the analysis. Our findings correspond with previous studies demonstrating that V. inaequalis in Europe has a high genetic diversity within populations, but low diversity among the populations.
Keywords: SSR; apple scab; fungi; plant pathogens; population.