ARS | Publication request: Molecular Characterization of Entomopathogenic Fungi Using Microsatellite Markers.

Submitted to: Society for Invertebrate Pathology Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: August 3, 2008
Publication Date: August 3, 2008
Citation: Dara, S.K., McGuire, M.R., Ulloa, M., Kaya, H.K. 2008. Molecular Characterization of Entomopathogenic Fungi Using Microsatellite Markers. Society for Invertebrate Pathology Annual Meeting. (Abstract).

Technical Abstract: Identification of entomopathogenic fungi isolated from their arthropod hosts or other sources can be cumbersome when certain morphological features are not clear or time consuming when the organism needs to reach a certain growth stage for proper identification. Molecular tools can be handy and offer a faster solution under such circumstances. Microsatellite markers were used to examine molecular characterization of two isolates each of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, as well as four isolates of Hirsutella homalodiscae. These isolates were recovered from insect hosts or soil from California, Texas, Mississippi and Florida. Microsatellite markers Ba03, Ba05, Ba06, Ba08, and Ba13 successfully separated the fungal species and their isolates. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of microsatellites and the high transferability of these markers across other fungi based on polymerase chain reaction product-amplification using markers developed specifically from Genomic DNA of B. bassiana by the USDA-ARS Insect Biocontrol Laboratory Beltsville, MD. In addition, these results suggest conservation of specific repeat motifs and/or genomic region among fungal species and isolates.