Transformation of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium flavoviride strain CG423 to benomyl resistance

Species of the Metarhizium anisopliae complex with diverse ecological niches display different susceptibilities to antifungal agents

Species of the Metarhizium anisopliae complex are globally ubiquitous soil-inhabiting and predominantly insect-pathogenic fungi. The Metarhizium genus contains species ranging from specialists, such as Metarhizium acridum that only infects acridids, to generalists, such as M. anisopliae, Metarhizium brunneum, and Metarhizium robertsii that infect a broad range of insects and can also colonize plant roots. There is little information available about the susceptibility of Metarhizium species to clinical and non-clinical antifungal agents. We determined the susceptibility of 16 isolates comprising four Metarhizium species with different ecological niches to seven clinical (amphotericin B, ciclopirox olamine, fluconazole, griseofulvin, itraconazole, tebinafine, and voriconazole) and one non-clinical (benomyl) antifungal agents. All isolates of the specialist M. acridum were clearly more susceptible to most antifungals than the isolates of the generalists M. anisopliae sensu lato, M. brunneum, and M. robertsii. All isolates of M. anisopliae, M. brunneum, and M. robertsii were resistant to fluconazole and some were also resistant to amphotericin B. The marked differences in susceptibility between the specialist M. acridum and the generalist Metarhizium species suggest that this characteristic is associated with their different ecological niches, and may assist in devising rational antifungal treatments for the rare cases of mycoses caused by Metarhizium species.

Biochemistry of insect epicuticle degradation by entomopathogenic fungi

The biochemical interaction between fungal pathogens and their insect host epicuticle was studied by examining fungal hydrocarbon degrading ability. As a contact insecticide, entomopathogenic fungi invade their host through the cuticle, covered by an outermost lipid layer mainly composed of highly stable, very long chain structures. Strains of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae (Deuteromycotina: Hyphomycetes), pathogenic both to the blood-sucking bug Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and the bean-weevil Acanthoscelides obtectus (Coleoptera, Bruchidae), were grown on different carbon sources. Alkane-grown cells showed a lipid pattern different from that of glucose-grown cells, evidenced by a major switch in the triacylglycerol and sterol components. Radiolabelled hydrocarbons were used to investigate the catabolic pathway and the by-product incorporation into fungal cellular components. The first oxidation round is presumably carried out by a cytochrome P450 enzyme system, the metabolites will traverse the peroxisomal membrane, and after successive transformations will eventually provide the appropriate fatty acyl CoA for complete degradation in the peroxisomes, the site of beta-oxidation in fungi. In this review, we will show the relationship between fungal ability to catabolize very long chain hydrocarbons and virulence parameters.

Sensitivity of Ulocladium atrum, Coniothyrium minitans, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum to benomyl and vinclozolin

Assays on mycelial growth and spore germination were carried out to determine the sensitivity of the biocontrol agents Ulocladium atrum and Coniothyrium minitans and the plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum to benomyl and vinclozolin. Ulocladium atrum was more tolerant to these fungicides than C. minitans and S. sclerotiorum. The 50% effective concentration (EC50) of U. atrum based on the mycelial growth inhibition was 1467.3 µg active ingredient (a.i.)/mL for benomyl and 12.6 µg a.i./mL for vinclozolin, and the maximum inhibition concentration was higher than 4000 µg a.i./mL for both fungicides. For C. minitans and S. sclerotiorum, however, the EC50 based on mycelial growth inhibition was lower than 1 µg a.i./mL. After incubation for 24 h at 20°C, the germination rate of U. atrum conidia was 90–99% on potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with benomyl at 100–500 µg a.i./mL or vinclozolin at 10–500 µg a.i./mL. At these concentrations, germ tubes of U. atrum developed into long, branched hyphae in benomyl treatments, but they remained short and clustered in vinclozolin treatments. Pycnidiospores of C. minitans and ascospores of S. sclerotiorum germinated on PDA amended with benomyl at 100–500 µg a.i./mL, but the germ tubes did not grow further. Spore germination of C. minitans and S. sclerotiorum was less than 3.2% on PDA amended with vinclozolin at 10–500 µg a.i./mL after 24 h. This is the first report on the sensitivity of U. atrum and C. minitans to benomyl and vinclozolin. The results suggest that it is possible to control S. sclerotiorum using a combination of U. atrum and benomyl or vinclozolin.Key words: fungicides, mycelial growth, spore germination, integrated pest management.

Biolistic co-transformation of Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum strain CG423 with green fluorescent protein and resistance to glufosinate ammonium

Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum (syn. M. flavoviride) is recognized as a highly specific and virulent mycopathogen of locusts and grasshoppers and is currently being developed as a biological control agent for this group of insects in Brazil. Intact conidia of M. anisopliae var. acridum strain CG423 were transformed using microparticle bombardment. Plasmids used were: (1) pBARKS1 carrying the bar gene of Streptomyces hygroscopicus fused to the Aspergillus nidulans trpC promoter, encoding resistance to glufosinate ammonium (or phosphinothricin) and modified by addition of the telomeric repeat (TTAGGG)(18) of Fusarium oxysporum and 2.pEGFP/gpd/tel carrying a red-shifted variant gene for Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein (EGFP) which we have fused to the A. nidulans gpd promoter and trpC terminator. Highly fluorescent co-transformants were selected on solid minimal medium containing 100 microg ml(-1) glufosinate ammonium using an inverted microscope with 450-490 nm excitation/510 nm emission filter set. Southern blot analysis of co-transformants revealed varying multiple chromosomal integrations of both bar and egfp genes at both telomeric and non-telomeric loci. Transformants retained pathogenicity in bioassays against Rhammatocerus schistocercoides and showed unaltered lack of pathogenicity against larvae of the non-target insect Anticarsia gemmatalis. One co-transformant from four tested, however, showed a significant, but non-dose-dependent, elevation in virulence against Tenebrio molitor.

Pinto F, Fungaro MHP. Transformation of the entomopathogenic fungusMetarhizium flavovirideto high resistance to benomyl

A Brazilian isolate of Metarhizium flavoviride, which has been developed as a biocontrol agent against the grasshopper Rhammatocerus schistocercoides, was stably transformed to be resistant to benomyl (beta-tubulin gene). Highly resistant transformants were obtained which grew in benomyl concentrations greater than 30 times (200 µg mL-1) the concentration that inhibits wild type proliferation. These transformants were mitotically stable after 20 successive transfers on non-selective media. No significant differences in conidia yield were observed between stably transformed strains and wild type (CG423). Chymoelastase (Pr1) secretion was greater in some transformants than in the wild type. In the presence of benomyl, appressoria differentiation occurred at similar rates in CG423 and transformants. However, the percentage of conidial germination in the transformants was higher than in the wild type, indicating the potential use of these transformants along with benomyl. Additionally, the resistance levels of the transformants observed in the present study demonstrate the potential use of these transformants for assessing the persistence of a particular isolate in fields without this fungicide.Key words: Metarhizium flavoviride, genetic transformation, benomyl resistance, biocontrol.

Genetic variability in Metarhizium flavoviride revealed by telomeric fingerprinting

Previous studies using arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR/RAPD) analysis have shown only little genetic variation among isolates of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium flavoviride. In the current study, however, telomeric fingerprinting unambiguously differentiated several Brazilian strains of M. flavoviride as well as strains from Africa and Australia. Using this technique, similarity estimates of telomeric DNA among distinct strains were less than 50%, showing this locus to be highly mutable in this species.