Intraspecific variation in ribosomal DNA in populations of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida

The relationships among a number of populations of Globodera pallida from Britian, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and South America were examined using PCR amplification of the ribosomal cistron between the 18S and 28S genes that include the two intergenic spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8S gene. Amplifications produced a similar-sized product of 1150 bp from all populations. Digestion of the amplified fragment with a number of restriction enzymes showed differences among the populations. The restriction enzyme RsaI distinguished the most populations. The RFLP patterns revealed by this enzyme were complex and could have arisen from heterogeneity between individuals within populations and from differences between the repeats of an individual. Sequence analysis from six of the populations, together with RFLP analysis of PCR products, shows that there is intraspecific variation in the rDNA of G. pallida.