Hypocreales » Clavicipitaceae » Metarhizium

Metarhizium pemphigi

Metarhizium pemphigi (Driver & Milner) Kepler, Humber & S.A. Rehner, Mycologia 106(4): 824 (2014)

Index Fungorum number: IF 807860; Facesoffungi number: FoF 13945

Parasitic on adults of Coleoptera. Colony white, slightly green when producing sporulation. Mycelium 1.6–2.8 (x̄ = 2.1, n = 40) μm in wide, hyaline, smooth-walled. Conidiophores micronematous, closely packed together but not forming synnmata, irregularly branched, septate. Phialides 10–20 × 2–3 (x̄ = 13 × 2.6, n = 20) μm, monophialidic, cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate. Conidia 5–8 × 1.8–2.5 (x̄ = 6.1 × 2.1, n = 30) μm, cylindrical-ellipsoidal, hyaline, aseptate, smooth-walled, aggregating in chains.

Culture characteristics – Colonies on PDA reaching 5.5 cm after 30 days at 25 °C, green, circular, velvety, with sparse mycelia, sporulation.

Material examined – China, Yunnan Province, Kunming City, Yeyahu Park, on adult of Coleoptera lying on ground, 4 July 2021, De-Ping Wei, YYH07 (HKAS 102459), living culture KUNCC 21-10511.

Molecular data: LSU (OQ127368), SSU (OQ127297), ITS (OQ127333), TEF (OQ186360)

Notes – Metarhizium pemphigi was initially introduced as Metarhizium flavoviride var. pemphigum by Driver et al. (2000) and raised to species level by Kepler et al. (2014). This species was found to infect Pemphigus bursarius and Pemphigus trehernei, root aphids from the UK (Driver et al. 2000). The collection (HKAS 102459) produces typical metarhizium-like conidiophores and hyaline ovoid to enlongated conidia. The colonies on PDA are light green due to formation of abundant sporulation. These characters were also mentioned in M. pemphigi (Driver et al. 2000). In the multi-locus phylogeny our collection groups with M. pemphigi (ARSEF 6569) with maximum support.

 

Metarhizium pemphigi (HKAS 102459) a, b Fungal colony on hosts. c, d Conidiophores and phialides. e–g Conidia. Scale bars: c, d = 20 μm, e–g = 3 μm (c, d stained with Congo red solution).

Reference:

Wei DP, Gentekaki E, Wanasinghe DN, Karunarathna SC, Tang SM, Hyde KD 2022 – Diversity, molecular dating and ancestral characters state reconstruction of entomopathogenic fungi in Hypocreales. Mycosphere 13: 281–351.

 

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