Marker stability throughout 400 days of in vitro hyphal growth in the filamentous ascomycete, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

The stability of routinely used, population genetic markers through approximately 1 year of continuous laboratory growth was investigated in the common, plant pathogentic ascomycete Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Given reports of accelerated mutation rates at higher temperatures, both a permissive temperature, 22 degrees C, and a temperature at the high end of tolerance, 30 degrees C, were employed. Because mycelial growth rate was tracked among mitotic lineages established for each strain, a subsidiary objective was addressed, testing the stability of a 30 degrees C-competent phenotype.