The asexual filamentous fungus, genus Beauveria, has been described with respect to its entomopathogenic characteristics and applied within agricultural biocontrol programs. Reliable genotyping and identification of stains has hindered the understanding of Beauveria population biology. We used methods to detect point mutation and nucleotide insertion in the internal transcribe spacer (ITS), and in five group I introns of the 28s and 16s rRNA genes. Unique genotypes were identified, and used to evaluate the relationship among isolates with different insect host specificities. The resultant phylogenetic and statistical analysis suggested that no correlation was present between insect host and fungal genotype.
Species 1: Ascomycota Hypocreales Beauveria bassiana
Species 2: Ascomycota Hypocreales Beauveria brongniartii
Species 3: Lepidoptera Crambidae Ostrinia nubilalis (European corn borer)
Keywords: strain, identification
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA