Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Entomophthorales (Entomophthoromycota: Entomophthoromycotina) from Argentina

Abstract

We characterized 17 insect-pathogenic entomophthoralean fungal isolates (Entomophthoromycotina: Entomophthorales) using morphological and molecular techniques. We identified four species from various insect hosts: (<strong><em>i</em></strong>) <em>Entomophthora planchoniana</em>, six specimens from aphids; (<strong><em>ii</em></strong>) <em>Pandora </em><em>neoaphidis</em>, three specimens from aphids; (<strong><em>iii</em></strong>) <em>Zoophthora phalloides </em>from an aphid; and (<strong><em>iv</em></strong>) <em>Z. radicans</em>, seven specimens from insects in the orders Diptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera. Analysis of ITS1 data from <em>E. planchoniana </em>showed clustering in accordance to aphid host species. <em>Entomophthora planchoniana </em>from <em>Macrosiphum</em><em> </em><em>euphorbiae </em>clustered together, separate from the isolate from <em>Myzus persicae</em>. The <em>P.</em><em> </em><em>neoaphidis </em>specimens clustered with sequences from other aphid-pathogenic <em>Pandora </em>species in GenBank. In this study, <em>Z. phalloides </em>from <em>Brevicoryne brassicae </em>and <em>Z. radicans </em>from an unidentified species of Chironomidae (Diptera) in Argentina were characterized for the first time. The present study was initiated to elucidate the taxonomy of the entomophthoralean fungi in Argentina according to their morphological and molecular characters. The presented results emphasize the significance of the combination of molecular data and information on morphology, ecology, and host range for accurate identification of entomophthoralean and allied genera.