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Ophiocordyceps krachonicola (BBH 40672, BCC79666). a. Stroma of fungus emerging from a mole cricket; b. cross section of stroma showing perithecia; c. perithecium; d. asci; e. part of asci with asci tip; f. part-spores; g -h. colony on PDA: (g) obverse (h) reverse; i. conidiogenous cells with conidia; j. conidia; k-l. colony on PSA: (k) obverse (l) reverse; m. conidiogenous cells with conidia; n. conidia. -Scale bars: a = 10 mm; b = 150 μm; c = 80 μm; d = 10 μm; e -f = 5 μm; g -h = 5 mm; i -j, m -n = 5 μm; k -l = 10 mm.
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Two new fungal genera and six species occurring on insects in the orders Orthoptera and Phasmatodea (superorder Orthopterida) were discovered that are distributed across three families in the Hypocreales . Sixty-seven sequences generated in this study were used in a multi-locus phylogenetic study comprising SSU, LSU, TEF , RPB1 and RPB2 together wi...
Citations
... Throughout the invasion of the insect body, depletion of nutrients in the hemocoel and the fat body occurs, eventually leading to the death of the host (Gao et al., 2011;Peng et al., 2022). In the case of the order Phasmatodea (Insecta), M. phasmatodeae has recently been reported as a novel species, utilizing stick insects as its hosts Thanakitpipattana et al., 2020). In domestic cases, there have been reports of R. mikado being infected by M. anisopliae, and its biocontrol has been confirmed through artificial inoculation (Kim et al., 2010;Jung et al., 2023). ...
... In addition, phylogenetic analyses employing both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian methods further confirmed a close relationship between the strains in this study and the M. phasmatodeae strain (BCC49272). As previously reported, M. phasmatodeae is a recently identified species known to infect stick insects (Phasmatodea) Thanakitpipattana et al., 2020). In summary, based on comprehensive morphological and taxonomic characterization, the three strains were conclusively identified as belonging to M. phasmatodeae, suggesting their potential as biocontrol agents against Phasmatodea insects ( Figure 3C). ...
Phasmatodea, commonly known as stick insects, are recognized as noteworthy pests globally, impacting agriculture and forest ecosystems. Among them, the outbreak of Ramulus mikado has emerged as a notable concern in East Asian forests. Recently, Metarhizium phasmatodeae has been identified as utilizing stick insects as hosts. We have observed evidence of this entomopathogenic fungus infecting stick insects. Given the increase in these occurrences during the rainy period, this study investigated the relationship between the survival of R. mikado and the M. phasmatodeae infection during the rainy seasons of 2022 and 2023. We collected stick insects in two representative forests of the Republic of Korea and examined insect survival, fungal infection, and various environmental factors. No infections were detected in specimens collected in June before the rainy season, but from July onwards, both the mortality of R. mikado and the fungal infection substantially increased. By the last sampling date of each year, 75% (2022), 71.4% (2023) of the specimens were infected, and over 90% of the total individuals succumbed as a result. Fungi isolated from deceased R. mikado were successfully identified as M. phasmatodeae using morphological and taxonomic approaches. Various statistical analyses, including principal component analysis and modeling, revealed a robust association between fungal infection and the survival of stick insects. The results highlight the correlation between mass deaths of stick insects and fungal infection, particularly during the summer rainy season. These findings offer valuable insights for forecasting R. mikado population in the upcoming year and developing effective pest control strategies.
... Following the adoption of the "One Fungus One Name" standard, Kepler et al. [5] delimited the boundary of Metarhizium by combining the majority of species in Metacordyceps, Nomuraea Maubl., and Chamaeleomyces Sigler, recognizing 34 species. In recent years, numerous new taxa have been added to the genus Metarhizium and enriched its species diversity [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In the most complete taxonomic treatment of Metarhizium and its related genera, Mongkolsamrit et al. [11] reconstructed the phylogenetic framework of Clavicipitaceae focusing on the core [11,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. ...
The genus Metarhizium is one of the most significant entomopathogenic fungi with diverse morphological characteristics and host species. Species of Metarhizium have been widely used for pest control as an environmentally safe alternative to chemical pesticides. This study reports a new species of Metarhizium and a new record of M. bibionidarum from China. The taxonomic positions of the two species within Metarhizium were assessed by morphological and multi-gene phylogenetic data. This assessment confirmed that the new species M. dianzhongense on white grubs (Coleoptera) is a sister to M. ellipsoideum on adult leafhoppers (Hemiptera) and represents a distinctive fungus according to the morphological and phylogenetic evidence. The two species, M. dianzhongense and M. bibionidarum, were described and illustrated. Pathogenicity tests by M. bibionidarum and M. dianzhongense were performed on early instar larvae of the significant agricultural pest Spodoptera frugipera (Lepidoptera). The results demonstrated that both M. bibionidarum and M. dianzhongense exhibit significant insecticidal activity against larvae of S. frugipera, providing new fungal resources for the development of an eco-friendly biocontrol agent against this pest.
... Determining the identity of entomopathogenic fungi is key to structuring investigations into their ecological requirements and other aspects of their biology (Gutierrez et al., 2019;Mongkolsamrit et al., 2020;Thanakitpipattana et al., 2020). The accurate identification of isolates in this group of fungi has proved challenging for several reasons, including the difficulty in finding reliable diagnostic morphological features and the low variation that is detectable in commonly used molecular markers (Rehner et al., 2011;Imoulan et al., 2017). ...
... None of the previously mentioned studies adopted multigene approaches using a standard set of four or more genes, aiming towards species delimitations within Cordyceps in agricultural systems, although this approach has been broadly adopted for new species proposals and species delimitation studies for this genus (Sung et al., 2007;Kepler et al., 2017;Mongkolsamrit et al., 2020;Thanakitpipattana et al., 2020;Dong et al., 2022). Given the economic importance of anamorphic Cordyceps species in Brazil and other countries, an updated identification using current criteria and reliable diversity information is essential. ...
... On the other hand, a 'short stroma' type of fungus infecting a lepidopteran found in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco was designated as C. exasperata (Vital, 1956), although the author himself stated that he did so without much conviction. In the same way as the morphological similarities, the striking phylogenetic proximity between C. polyarthra and C. exasperata recently demonstrated in several studies (Kepler et al., 2017;Zha et al., 2019;Mongkolsamrit et al., 2020;Thanakitpipattana et al., 2020;Hu et al., 2021), lead us to believe that it is probably a single species and that, by priority, the representatives of this clade should be referred to as C. polyarthra. Three Brazilian anamorphs, all isolated from lepidopterans (families Noctuidae and Nymphalidae), clustered close to C. polyarthra, but a reevaluation of these specimens and a new study of their types is essential to establish reliable identifications for these species. ...
A total of 53 anamorphic strains of Brazilian Cordyceps species currently maintained in a government-owned culture collection, were reassessed for diversity and species identity using multi-loci-based phylogenetic methods. The strains used in this study were originally obtained from soil samples or were isolated from insects of the orders Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera, mostly from agricultural sites. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree was constructed based on a concatenation of five loci (ITS, LSU, RPB1, RPB2 and TEF). In a few cases of ambiguity, morphological traits were also considered for species delimitations. Considerable variability within the set of strains was detected and six Cordyceps species were identified: C. amoenerosea, C. fumosorosea, C. javanica, C. tenuipes and, for the first time, C. brevistroma and C. spegazzinii are reported in Brazil. Four other taxonomically equivocal groups, closely related to other known taxa (C. amoenerosea, C. cateniannulata, C. polyarthra and C. spegazzinii), were also recognized, although further studies will be required to confirm their identifications or their descriptions as new species. Cordyceps javanica was the most common species in our dataset, originally isolated from soil and several different insect orders, and includes 17 strains from the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Interestingly, strains previously identified as C. fumosorosea based on morphology and growth characteristics, were shown to be C. javanica, including the active ingredients of some commercial mycoinsecticides. Cordyceps farinosa, usually mentioned in the literature as occurring in Brazil, was not found in our study. Since most strains were from insect crop pests, further studies with hosts from non-agricultural settings or from environmental samples would be advisable for a deeper understanding of the occurrence of anamorphic Cordyceps in Brazil.
... From the arctic to the tropics, the Metarhizum genus is found all over the world. It is a member of the class Hyphomycetes, which reproduces by conidia, or spores (Aw and Hue, 2017 (Thanakitpipattana et al., 2020). ...
Entomopathogenic fungi from microbial sources are a powerful tool for combating insecticide resistance in insect pests. The purpose of the current study was to isolate, identify, and evaluate bag-formulated entomopathogenic fungal conidial virulence against insect pests. We further investigated the enzymatic responses induced by the entomopathogenic fungi as well as the effect on a non-target species. Entomopathogenic fungi were isolated from the Palamalai Hills, India, using the insect bait method, and the Metarhizium majus (MK418990.1) entomopathogen was identified using biotechnological techniques (genomic DNA isolation and 18S rDNA amplification). Bag-formulated fungal conidial efficacy (2.5 × 103, 2.5 × 104, 2.5 × 105, 2.5 × 106, and 2.5 × 107 conidia/ml) was evaluated against third instar larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda at 3, 6, 9, and 12 days of treatment, and acid and alkaline phosphatases, catalase, and superoxide dismutase enzymatic responses were evaluated at 3 days post-treatment. After 12 days of treatment, non-target assays on the earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae were performed using an artificial soil assay. Results of the bag formulated fungal conidial treatment showed that S. frugiperda had high susceptibility rates at higher concentrations (2.5 × 107 conidia/ml) of M. majus. Lower concentration of 2.5 × 103 conidia/ml caused 68.6% mortality, while 2.5 × 107 conidia/ml caused 100% mortality at 9 days post treatment. Investigation into enzymatic responses revealed that at 3 days post M. majus conidia exposure (2.5 × 103 conidia/ml), insect enzyme levels had significantly changed, with acid and alkaline phosphatases, and catalase enzymes significantly reduced and superoxide dismutase enzymes significantly raised relative to the control. After 12 days of treatment, no sublethal effects of M. majus conidia were observed on E. eugeniae, with no observed damage to gut tissues including lumen and epithelial cells, the nucleus, setae, coelom, mitochondria, and muscles. This study offers support for the use of fungal conidia in the target-specific control of insect pests.
... In previous studies, many species of entomopathogenic fungi that parasitize a wide range of ant hosts were shown to be species complexes (Evans et al. 2011a, b;Araújo et al. 2015Araújo et al. , 2018Kobmoo et al. 2015;Khonsanit et al. 2019). Therefore, phylogenetic analyses of sequence data are essential to delimit these species complexes Thanakitpipattana et al. 2020;Khao-ngam et al. 2021;Mongkolsamrit et al. 2020;Wei et al. 2021). ...
Fungal specimens parasitic on ants producing Stilbella-like anamorph were collected from Thailand. Based on morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses, a new record for Ophiocordyceps buquetii and a new species, Ophiocordyceps laotii, were identified. Ophiocordyceps laotii is a pathogen specific to the ant species Dolichoderus laotius, while O. buquetii is a species distributed globally with a broad range of ant host species, occurring on Camponotus sp., Crematogaster sp., Dilobocondyla sp., Oecophylla smaragdina, Platythyrea sp., Polyrhachis illaudata, Polyrhachis sp. 1, and Polyrhachis sp. 2. Ophiocordyceps buquetii and O. laotii share the morphological character of producing multiple synnemata from ant hosts but differ in the shape of fertile head and conidia, as well as its phylogenetic placement, which clearly distinguishes these species.
... As an example, 33 novel Metarhizium (Clavicipitaceae) species have been introduced in the past decade. Mongkolsamrit et al. (2020) and Thanakitpipattana et al. (2020) introduced 20 species in 2020 from Thailand. Luangsa-ard et al. (2017) and Yamamoto et al. (2020) also introduced several species from Japan and Thailand. ...
... O. granospora Khons., Luangsa-ard, Thanakitp., Kobmoo & Piasai, O. khaoyaiensis Khons., Luangsa-ard, Thanakitp., Kobmoo & Piasai, and O. megacuculla Khonsanit et al. 2019;Tasanathai et al. 2020;Khao-ngam et al. 2021). Species in Ophiocordyceps are found on a wide range of insect hosts including Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Odonata and Orthoptera (Kobayasi 1941;Mains 1958;Samson 1982, 1984;Shrestha et al. 2016;Thanakitpipattana et al. 2020). Four species on termites (Termitidae, Macrotermitinae) were reported more than two decades ago worldwide including Cordyceps termitophila Kobayasi & Shimizu occurring on Termitidae from Japan and Taiwan (P. ...
Four new species of Ophiocordyceps pathogenic to termites, Ophiocordyceps fusiformis, O. globosa, O. isopterae and O. radiciformis, were collected from community forests and described based on morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic data. Ophiocordyceps globosa has pseudo-immersed perithecia and globose conidia, while O. fusiformis, O. isopterae and O. radiciformis share similarities of having ovoid superficial perithecia, filiform asci, and filiform, whole, septate ascospores but differ in their sizes. Ophiocordyceps radiciformis possesses the largest size of all the aforementioned characters followed by O. fusiformis and O. isopterae, respectively. Ophiocordyceps fusiformis produces Hymenostilbe-like asexual morph and O. globosa, O. isopterae and O. radiciformis produce Hirsutella-like asexual morph. The phylogenetic analyses based on the ITS rDNA barcode and 4-gene dataset comprising LSU, TEF1, RPB1 and RPB2 supported these four new species in Ophiocordyceps.
... Several species of this family are recognised for their economic importance, such as Cordyceps militaris (L.) Fr., a famous traditional Chinese medicine, edible mushroom and source of bioactive compounds (Wu et al. 2021) and others that are being used or developed as biopesticides against different insect pests (Wang et al. 2019;Sun et al. 2020). Seventeen genera are established in this family from combined molecular phylogenetic and morphological evidence (Zare and Gams 2016;Kepler et al. 2017;Mongkolsamrit et al. 2018Mongkolsamrit et al. , 2020bThanakitpipattana et al. 2020;Wang et al. 2020;Zhang et al. 2020). Recently, the genera Pseudogibellula Samson & H.C. Evans and Pleurodesmospora Samson, W. Gams & H.C. Evans were clarified, based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and confirmed to be members of Cordycipitaceae (Chen et al. 2021b;Mongkolsamrit et al. 2021), suggesting that the taxonomic diversity of this family is still under-explored. ...
... The filiform whole ascospores type (Fig. 2a) with the shape of thread is observed in Akanthomyces sulphureus, Blackwellomyces spp., Cordyceps kuiburiensis, Hyperdermium (e.g. H. bertonii, H. pulvinatum) and Neotorrubiella chinghridicola (Mongkolsamrit et al. 2018(Mongkolsamrit et al. , 2020bCrous et al. 2019;Sullivan et al. 2000;Thanakitpipattana et al. 2020). The presence of multiseptate ascospores disarticulating into part-spores (Fig. 2b) can be seen in several genera, such as Akanthomyces (e.g. A. thailandicus, A. pyralidarum and A. noctuidarum), Beauveria (e.g. ...
Collections of pathogenic fungi found on spiders from Thailand were selected for a detailed taxonomic study. Morphological comparison and phylogenetic analyses of the combined ITS, LSU, tef1 , rpb1 and rpb2 sequence data indicated that these specimens formed new independent lineages within the Cordycipitaceae, containing two new genera occurring on spiders, i.e. Jenniferia gen. nov. and Polystromomyces gen. nov. Two new species in Jenniferia , J. griseocinerea sp. nov. and J. thomisidarum sp. nov. , are described. Two strains, NHJ 03510 and BCC 2191, initially named as Akanthomyces cinereus ( Hevansia cinerea ), were shown to be part of Jenniferia . By including sequences of putative Hevansia species from GenBank, we also revealed Parahevansia as a new genus with the ex-type strain NHJ 666.01 of Pa. koratensis , accommodating specimens previously named as Akanthomyces koratensis ( Hevansia koratensis ). One species of Polystromomyces , Po. araneae sp. nov. , is described. We established an asexual-sexual morph connection for Hevansia novoguineensis (Cordycipitaceae) with ex-type CBS 610.80 and proposed a new species, H. minuta sp. nov. Based on characteristics of the sexual morph, Hevansia and Polystromomyces share phenotypic traits by producing stipitate ascoma with fertile terminal heads; however, they differ in the shape and colour of the stipes. Meanwhile, Jenniferia produces non-stipitate ascoma with aggregated superficial perithecia forming a cushion. A new morphology of ascospores in Jenniferia is described, illustrated and compared with other species in Cordycipitaceae.
... The mycelial mass of fungi was obtained from cultures grown on PDA for 7 days at 25 • C. A modified CTAB protocol used for DNA extraction using polyvinylpyrrolidone instead of β-mercaptoethanol in CTAB buffer and increasing temperature in the incubation process from 60 • C to 65 • C was previously described by Thanakitpipattana et al. [30]. PCR was used to amplify the nuclear ribosomal large subunits (LSU), the region of the elongation factor 1-α (TEF1), and the largest and second-largest subunits of RNA polymerase II (RPB1 and RPB2). ...
During surveys of insect pathogenic fungi (IPF) in Thailand, fungi associated with scale insects and plants were found to represent five new species of the genus Ascopolyporus in Cordycipitaceae. Their macroscopic features resembled both Hyperdermium and Ascopolyporus. Morphological comparisons with the type and known Ascopolyporus and Hyperdermium species and phylogenetic evidence from a multigene dataset support the appointment of a new species of Ascopolyporus. Moreover, the data also revealed that the type species of Hyperdermium, H. caulium, is nested within Ascopolyporus, suggesting that Hyperdermium is congeneric with Ascopolyporus. The specimens investigated here differ from other Ascopolyporus species by phenotypic characters including size and color of stromata. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, TEF1, RPB1 and RPB2 sequences strongly support the notion that these strains are distinct from known species of Ascopolyporus, and are proposed as Ascopolyporus albus, A. galloides, A. griseoperitheciatus, A. khaoyaiensis and A. purpuratus. Neohyperdermium gen. nov. is introduced for other species originally assigned to Hyperdermium and Cordyceps occurring on scale insects and host plants as epiphytes, accommodating two new combinations of Hyperdermium pulvinatum and Cordyceps piperis.
