Ni Nian-Tong, Pudasaini Rameshwor, Krutmuang Patcharin, Nai Yu-Shin
Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402202, Taiwan.
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
J Appl Microbiol. 2025 Jul 1;136(7). doi: 10.1093/jambio/lxaf139.
The challenges of mass production and environmental stress affect the application of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF). Therefore, this study attempts to develop a procedure based on EPF molecular markers to facilitate the EP selection.
In this study, three Beauveria bassiana isolates and six Metarhizium spp., were evaluated for conidial production and environmental stress tolerances. The expression levels of six phenotypic related genes were analyzed to assess correlations with conidial production and stress tolerance in two phenotypic different isolates of B. bassiana and Metarhizium spp. In B. bassiana isolates, both slt2 and catA showed strong correlations with conidial production and thermotolerance. Additionally, slt2 and hog1 were associated with osmotic stress tolerance and oxidative stress tolerance, respectively. However, the correlation between phenotypes and gene expression trends was not consistent in Metarhizium spp. Further validation using three M. pinghaense isolates indicated that hog1 was strongly correlated with conidial production, while mbf1, slt2, and cag8 were associated with thermotolerance, oxidative stress tolerance, and osmotic stress tolerance, respectively.
These findings suggest the existence of intraspecies conservation in phenotypic mechanisms and offer a strategy for the rapid selection of promising EPF strains.
大规模生产的挑战和环境压力影响了昆虫病原真菌（EPF）的应用。因此，本研究试图开发一种基于EPF分子标记的程序，以促进EP的筛选。
在本研究中，对三株球孢白僵菌分离株和六株绿僵菌属菌株进行了分生孢子产量和环境胁迫耐受性评估。分析了六个表型相关基因的表达水平，以评估其与球孢白僵菌和绿僵菌属两个表型不同分离株的分生孢子产量和胁迫耐受性之间的相关性。在球孢白僵菌分离株中，slt2和catA均与分生孢子产量和耐热性密切相关。此外，slt2和hog1分别与渗透胁迫耐受性和氧化胁迫耐受性相关。然而，在绿僵菌属中，表型与基因表达趋势之间的相关性并不一致。使用三株平和绿僵菌分离株进行的进一步验证表明，hog1与分生孢子产量密切相关，而mbf1、slt2和cag8分别与耐热性、氧化胁迫耐受性和渗透胁迫耐受性相关。
这些发现表明表型机制中存在种内保守性，并为快速筛选有前景的EPF菌株提供了一种策略。
