Isolation And Characterization of Isaria Farinosa from Iraqi Gara Mountain Soil Using Morphological And Molecular Approaches

Abstract

Isaria farinosa, formerly known as Paecilomyces farinosus, have a worldwide distribution and a relatively wide host range. The aim of the work is to isolate and identify Isaria fungus from soil of Gara mountain using molecular analysis and morphological characteristics Isaria species were isolated from soil samples collected at an insect overwintering sites in Gara mountain, Kurdistan Region, Iraq using selective medium as an Oat culture modified with CTAB and cyclohexamide. Results demonstrated that conidia of the isolated species are globose to subglobose to ellipsoidal in shape, 2-2.3 x 1-1.3 um in size, and hyaline with smooth walls. Besides, PCR based method revealed that the sequences of the isolated fungus high level (100%) of sequence homology to the fungus I. farinosa. The present study provides better insight into the Isaria species and related entomopathogenic fungi in terms of isolation, morphology and phylogeny