The Two Mating Types
P. ramorum is heterothallic and has two mating types A1 and A2 required for sexual reproduction. Interestingly, the European population is predominantly A1 while both mating types A1 and A2 are found in North America. Genetics of the two isolates indicate that they are reproductively isolated. On average the A1 mating type is more virulent than the A2 mating type but there is more variation in the pathogenicity of A2 isolates. It is currently not clear whether this pathogen can reproduce sexually in nature and genetic work has suggested that the lineages of the two mating types might be isolated reproductively or geographically given the evolutionary divergence observed.
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