Species Discrimination within the <i>Metarhizium</i> PARB Clade: Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer (rIGS)-Based Diagnostic PCR and Single Marker Taxonomy
2023
Christina Schuster | Yamilé Baró Robaina | Haifa Ben Gharsa | Saikal Bobushova | Romina Guadalupe Manfrino | Alejandra C. Gutierrez | Claudia C. Lopez Lastra | Tinatin Doolotkeldieva | Andreas Leclerque
(1) Background: The entomopathogenic fungus <i>Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato</i> forms a species complex, comprising a tight cluster made up of four species, namely <i>M. anisopliae sensu stricto</i>, <i>M. pinghaense</i>, <i>M. robertsii</i> and<i> M. brunneum</i>. Unambiguous species delineation within this “PARB clade” that enables both the taxonomic assignment of new isolates and the identification of potentially new species is highly solicited. (2) Methods: Species-discriminating primer pairs targeting the ribosomal intergenic spacer (rIGS) sequence were designed and a diagnostic PCR protocol established. A partial rIGS sequence, referred to as rIGS-ID800, was introduced as a molecular taxonomic marker for PARB species delineation. (3) Results: PARB species from a validation strain set not implied in primer design were clearly discriminated using the diagnostic PCR protocol developed. Using rIGS-ID800 as a single sequence taxonomic marker gave rise to a higher resolution and statistically better supported delineation of PARB clade species. (4) Conclusions: Reliable species discrimination within the <i>Metarhizium</i> PARB clade is possible through both sequencing-independent diagnostic PCR and sequencing-dependent single marker comparison, both based on the rIGS marker.
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