1. Metarhizium indicum, a new species of entomopathogenic fungus infecting leafhopper, Busoniomimus manjunathi from India.
- Author
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Senthil Kumar CM, Jacob TK, Devasahayam S, Rajeshkumar KC, Lad SS, D'Silva S, and Geethu C
- Subjects
- Humans, Animals, Phylogeny, Insecta microbiology, India, Hemiptera, Metarhizium genetics
- Abstract
A new species of entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium indicum, which derives its species epithet after its Indian origin is reported here. The fungus was found to cause natural epizootics in leafhopper (Busoniomimus manjunathi) infesting Garcinia gummi-gutta (Malabar tamarind), an evergreen spice tree native to South and Southeast Asia, known for its use as a culinary flavourant, dietary supplement and traditional remedy for various human ailments. The fungus was found to cause more than 60% mortality in field collected insects. The identity of the new species was established based on its distinct morphological characteristics and multi-gene sequence data analyses. Phylogenetic analyses using internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), DNA lyase (APN2) and a concatenated set of four marker genes [translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), β-tubulin (BTUB), RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB1) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2)] along with marked differences in nucleotide composition and genetic distance unambiguously support our claim that the present fungus infecting Garcinia leafhopper is a new addition to the genus Metarhizium., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2023
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