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The elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions ITS1 and ITS2 (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) sequences were used to characterize and to identify Isaria isolates from Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil, as well as to study the phylogenetic relationships among these isolates and other related fungi from the order Hypocreales. The molecular characterization, which was performed by PCR-RFLP of EF1-α and ITS1-5.8-ITS2 genes, was useful for resolving representative isolates of Isaria fumosorosea, Isaria farinosa, and Isaria tenuipes and to confirm the taxonomic identity of fungi from Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil. The phylogenetic analyses showed three clades corresponding to three families of Hypocreales. The genus Isaria was confirmed as polyphyletic and in family Cordycipitaceae, Isaria species were related to anamorphic species of Beauveria, Lecanicillium, and Simplicillium and to teleomorphic Cordyceps and Torrubiella. Therefore, EF1-α and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 genes were found to be powerful tools for improving the characterization, identification, and phylogenetic relationship of the Isaria species and other entomopathogenic fungi., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The entomopathogenic fungus Pandora neoaphidis is a recognized pathogen of aphids, causes natural epizootics in aphid populations, and interacts and competes with aphid predators and parasitoids. Survival of entomophthoralean fungi in periods of unsuitable weather conditions or lack of appropriate host insects is accomplished mainly by thick-walled resting spores (zygospores or azygospores). However, resting spores are not known for some entomophthoralean species such as P. neoaphidis. Several hypotheses of P. neoaphidis winter survival can be found in the literature but so far these hypotheses do not include the presence of resting spores. Resting spores were found in an aphid population where P. neoaphidis was the only entomophthoralean fungus observed during surveys conducted in organic horticultural crops in greenhouses and open fields in Buenos Aires province, Argentina. This study sought to use molecular methods to confirm that these resting spores were, in fact, those of P. neoaphidis while further documenting and characterizing these resting spores that were produced in vivo in aphid hosts. The double-walled resting spores were characterized using light and transmission electron microscopy. The Argentinean resting spores clustered together with P. neoaphidis isolates with bootstrap values above 98 % in the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequence analysis and with bootstrap values above 99 % the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) II region sequence analysis. This study is the first gene-based confirmation from either infected hosts or cultures that P. neoaphidis is able to produce resting spores., (Copyright © 2011 British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Arthropod pests in forest and agricultural systems are affected by many pathogenic organisms. Among them, entomopathogenic fungi are the one most common control agents that regulate their populations. This review compiles the information available from Argentina and Brazil about the entomopathogenic fungi occurring in agricultural and natural environments. The scientific names of the fungi are listed according to the latest phylogenetically based classification of fungi. We present an updated list of arthropod-pathogenic fungi occurring in 15 of the 23 provinces of Argentina and 20 of the 27 states of Brazil based on published literature and our personal observations. The list includes a total of 114 fungal species from 53 genera: of Blastocladiomycetes (2 genera), Entomophthorales (8 genera), Harpellales (13 genera), and a diverse assortment of ascomycetes (primarily from Hypocreales) in 22 anamorphic and 5 teleomorphic genera. In the both countries, molecular studies on arthropod-pathogenic fungi are still in their early stages and have focused primarily on intraspecific variability and adequate generic assignment. This listing seeks to encourage more active collection and characterization of these fungi by both traditional and molecular approaches from the obviously rich but underexplored flora of fungi affecting arthropods throughout this large region of South America.

The identity and activity of an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the Entomophthora muscae species complex and infecting Musca domestica in poultry houses from La Plata, Argentina, is reported. Entomophthora caused natural infections between September 2001 and September 2003. Primary conidia of this fungus were on average 29.5 +/- 1.2 x 23.4 +/- 2.4 microm and contained, on average, 10.5 +/- 0.1 nuclei (range: 7-15) with an average diameter of 4.8 +/- 0.1 microm. This fungus is identified as E. ferdinandii Keller (this specific epithet includes a nomenclaturally required spelling correction); this is a first record of E. ferdinandii in South America and of any member of the E. muscae species complex from flies in Argentina.