New records of fungal pathogens of invertebrates from endemic pine forests in Mexico

Abstract

We report fungal pathogens of invertebrates (FPI) (Entomophthorales, Hypocreales, and Orbiliales) from roots of an endemic Mexican pine, Pinus greggii Engelm. ex Parl., at four primary montane forests using next-generation sequencing. We found twenty-nine OTUs from 18 genera of FPI associated to the roots of P. greggii. New records for Mexico are: Beauveria felina (DC.) J.W.Carmich., Dactylella mammillata S.M. Dixon, Dactylella ramosa Matsushima, Drechslerella brochopaga (Drechsler) M. Scholler, Hagedorn & A. Rubner, Hirsutella minnesotensis Chen, Liu & Chen, Leptobacillium leptobactrum (W.Gams) Zare & W.Gams, Metapochonia variabilis Z.F.Zhang, F.Liu & L.Cai, Monacrosporium leptosporum (Drechsler) A. Rubner, and Simplicillium aogashimaense Nonaka, Kaifuchi & Masuma. A largely unknown array of fungal pathogens of invertebrates are likely to be found in Mexican forests.  This work facilitates future analyses of fungal diversity in these primary forests, as well as basic and applied research in biological control.