State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2018 Feb;102(3):1483-1499. doi: 10.1007/s00253-017-8651-4. Epub 2017 Nov 30.
Entomopathogenic fungi are considered to be a safe microbiological pesticide alternative to chemical control. Efforts are underway to understand precisely their taxonomy and natural distribution through mycological and biodiversity studies based on molecular markers. Here, we present descriptions of the diversity of the entomopathogenic fungi in the genera Metarhizium and Beauveria found along the elevational gradients of the Qinling subtropical and temperate forests of Shaanxi province in China, using morphological aspects and molecular markers. Molecular characterization using the Mz_IGS3 intergenic region revealed that Metarhizium isolates phylogenetically clustered in the PARB clade with four different distinguishable species, but the 5'-TEF gene allowed only ambiguous delimitation of Metarhizium species. Beauveria isolates were characterized by sequence analyses of the translation elongation factor 1-α and the Bloc region. The richness of Metarhizium species decreased with increasing elevation, with Metarhizium robertsii s.l. being the most abundant species along the elevational gradient. Our bioassay suggests that certain species of Metarhizium are significantly pathogenic to the insect model Tenebrio molitor at both the adult and larvae stages and could potentially serve as a control of insect pests of forests.
昆虫病原真菌被认为是一种安全的微生物农药替代品，可以替代化学防治。目前正在努力通过基于分子标记的真菌学和生物多样性研究，准确了解其分类和自然分布。在这里，我们使用形态学和分子标记描述了在中国陕西省秦岭南亚热带和温带森林海拔梯度上发现的绿僵菌属和白僵菌属昆虫病原真菌的多样性。使用 Mz_IGS3 基因间区的分子特征表明，绿僵菌分离株在 PARB 进化枝中系统发育聚类，具有四个不同的可区分种，但 5'-TEF 基因只能模糊地界定绿僵菌种。白僵菌分离株的特征是翻译延伸因子 1-α 和 Bloc 区的序列分析。随着海拔的升高，绿僵菌种类的丰富度降低，罗伯茨绿僵菌 s.l. 是沿海拔梯度最丰富的物种。我们的生物测定表明，某些绿僵菌种对昆虫模型黄粉虫成虫和幼虫阶段具有显著的致病性，可能可用于控制森林害虫。
