Differential cultivars and molecular markers were used to analyze 59 isolates of the bean anthracnose pathogen, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, from different regions of Mexico. Ten distinct races were determined, three of which had not been reported previously in Mexico. Isolates were found to infect only a narrow range of the differential cultivars used and were restricted to cultivars of Middle American origin. A comparison of random amplified polymorphic DNA and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses was carried out on a subset of the fungal isolates. Determination of genetic distances based on AFLP data and production of a dendrogram demonstrated two levels of association: i) isolates classified into two major groups according to the type of cultivar or system of cultivation from which they originated, and ii) isolates could be classified into smaller subgroups generally associated with the geographic location from which they were obtained. Bootstrap analysis and determination of confidence intervals showed these geographic groupings to be extremely robust.

The present study is the first report of fingerprinting on three Chilean Nothofagus species using ISSR and RAPD markers; 61 Nothofagus nervosa, 32 Nothofagus obliqua and 32 Nothafagus dombeyi individual trees, sampled from collection and natural sites, were analyzed. Among 45 primers tested, the 6 ISSR and 6 RAPD primers selected for the analysis generated a total of 63 ISSR and 42 RAPD fragments. A high proportion of polymorphic bands, ranging from 97% and 80%, was found using both markers. A similar number of private and marker bands was generated by both markers in all the species examined and one discriminant ISSR fragment was obtained for N. dombeyi. Jaccard and Dice similarity indices were used to evaluate pairwise genetic divergence; cluster analysis of the similarity matrices was performed to estimate the intra- and inter-specific genetic diversity, and PCA analysis was employed to evaluate the resolving power of the markers to differentiate between the species. These analyses, carried out for both markers, allowed us to identify three main groups corresponding to the three Nothofagus species. The results of the present study can be seen as a starting point for future researches on the population and evolutionary genetics of these species.

To discover the relation between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphism and the geographic population structure of Drosophila subobscura previously established for other genetic traits, a wide Paleartic survey was carried out. A total of 24 nucleomorphs was observed among 261 isofemale lines assayed by 11 restriction endonucleases with 38 different sites in the mtDNA cleavage map. The differentiation of the Canary Islands populations (delta = 0.0119) compared with the mean among all the other continental and insular populations (delta = 0.0002) is striking. Both the great divergence among Canary Islands nucleomorphs (delta = 0.021) compared with the maximum nucleomorph distance in all other populations (delta = 0.017) and the abundance of endemic nucleomorphs (11) on the Canary Islands (50% of the total number of different nucleomorphs found in the entire distribution area) suggest that this molecular differentiation most probably results from the very old age of the Canary Islands populations rather than from drift and founder effects.

<strong>Título en inglés: Intraespecific variability of peach (<em>Prunus persica</em> L. Batsch.) and plums (<em>Prunus domestica</em>) using RAMs</strong><p><strong>Resumen: </strong>Se seleccionó una muestra de 41 materiales de <em>Prunus</em> de la colección de caducifolios de la Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, para evaluar su variabilidad genética usando ocho marcadores Microsatélites Amplificados al Azar (RAMs). Se generaron un total de 121 alelos con pesos moleculares entre 260 y 1000 Kb. Se formaron tres grupos, a un coeficiente de similitud de 0.75, de acuerdo a las características del fruto y a la especie, encontrándose en el grupo II a los materiales de ciruelo. El porcentaje de loci polimórficos varío entre 71 y 99% para los cebadores CGA y CCA, respectivamente. El valor promedio de heterocigosidad fue de 0.22, mucho más bajo que los encontrados en otros estudios de diversidad genética en el género <em>Prunus</em>. La técnica RAMs mostró ser una herramienta útil para evaluar la diversidad genética en frutales caducifolios, al discriminar a los materiales en tres grupos e identificar el alto grado de consanguinidad que existe entre las diferentes especies de <em>Prunus</em> lo cual debe ser aprovechado dentro de las estrategias de hibridación que busquen la obtención de nuevos y mejores materiales. </p><p><strong>Palabras claves: </strong><em>Prunus</em>, Diversidad genética, Microsatélites RAMs, caducifolios.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>A sample of 41 <em>Prunus </em>materials from the deciduous collection of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia was selected to evaluate its genetic diversity using eight primers for Random Amplified Microsatellite (RAMs). A total of 121 alleles were generated with molecular weights ranging between 260 and 1000 Kb. Three groups were formed, a similarity coefficient of 0.75, according to fruit characteristics and specie, found plum materials in group II. The percentage of polymorphic loci ranged from 71 to 99% for the primers CGA and CCA, respectively. The average value of heterozygosity was 0.33, much lower than values found in other genetic diversity studies in the genus <em>Prunus</em>. The RAMs technique showed to be a useful tool for assessing genetic diversity in deciduous fruit, discriminate the materials into three groups and identify the high degree of consanguinity between different Prunus species which should be exploited in hybridization strategies looking for obtaining new and improved materials.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Key words</strong>: <em>Prunus</em>, Genetic diversity, Microsatellites RAMs, deciduous. </p>