Abstract:Phytophthora is the highest concern of plant pathogenic fungi. Four candidate genes of ITS, CO1, EF-1α and β-tubulin were tested with 122 strains from 80 species of Phytophthora genus to investigate the feasibility of serving as a DNA barcode. The results showed that the highest successful rate of PCR amplification and sequencing were from ITS and CO1 with 100% and 96.7%. Even the barcoding gaps of ITS, CO1 and β-tubulin were obvious. A smaller overlap between the frequency distribution of intra- and interspecific existed. The Wil-coxon rank test of intraspecific showed the equal distinguish effect, while the ability to distinguish interspecies was ITS>CO1>β-tubulin. ITS fragment and CO1 gene should be combined as barcodes for the eleven quarantine Phytophthora species, with assist of β-tubulin gene.