Abstract
The cedar forests of Lebanon have been threatened by the outbreak caused by climate change of a web-spinning sawfly, Cephalcia tannourinensis (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae), which negatively impacted the survival of one of the oldest tree species on earth. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of naturally soil-inhabiting entomopathogenic fungi for their role in containing the massive outbreak of this insect. We used a combination of fungal bioexploration methods, including insect bait and selective media. Morphological features and multilocus phylogeny—based on Sanger sequencing of the transcripts encoding the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF-α), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RBP2), and the nuclear intergenic region (Bloc) were used for species identification. The occurrence rate of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) varied with location, soil structure, forest structure, and isolation method. From 15 soil samples positive for fungal occurrence, a total of 249 isolates was obtained from all locations using different isolation methods. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed the existence of two novel indigenous species: Beauveria tannourinensis sp. nov. and Beauveria ehdenensis sp. nov. In conclusion, the present survey was successful (1) in optimizing the isolation methods for EPF, (2) investigating the natural occurrence of Beauveria spp. in outbreak areas of C. tannourinensis, and (3) in characterizing the presence of new Beauveria species in Lebanese cedar forest soil.
Highlights
Soil, the living sphere of microorganisms, provides shelter for a diverse array of bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae, and protozoa [1] including species of the cosmopolitan entomopathogenic fungal genus Beauveria (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) [2]
Based on the number of isolates, the occurrence of Beauveria isolates in sampling locations indicated that Beauveria was undetectable in plot T3 in Tannourine Cedar Forest Nature Reserve and Bcharre Cedar
The present study reports the results of the first bioexploration of entomopathogenic Beauveria species in Lebanon
Summary
The living sphere of microorganisms, provides shelter for a diverse array of bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae, and protozoa [1] including species of the cosmopolitan entomopathogenic fungal genus Beauveria (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) [2]. The wide range of hosts susceptible to Beauveria includes over 15 insect [4] and mites [5] orders. Beauveria produces a wide range of mycotoxins, including, but not limited to, beauvericin and bassianolide, that are involved in key developmental stages of the fungus and that have demonstrated pharmacological and therapeutic potentials [6,7,8]. Including a few new taxa described since that phylogenetically based revision of the genus, 14 well-supported terminal lineages are formally recognized: B. amorpha, B. bassiana, B. brongniartii, B. caledonica, B. malawiensis, B. vermiconia, B. asiatica, B. australis, B. kipukae, B. pseudobassiana, B. sungii, B. varroae, B. lii, and B. hoplocheli [2,9,10]
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