Morphological and genetic characterisation of Beauveria spp. from New Zealand

Abstract

Beauveria spp. from New Zealand were compared with isolates from other countries using morphological and genetic methods. The New Zealand isolates could be divided into B. bassiana and B. brongniartii based on conidial dimensions; isolates with conidia longer than 3 μm were classified as B. brongniartii, isolates with shorter, spherical conidia were B. bassiana. RAPD analyses using 10 random primers and scoring 330 bands divided isolates into four large groups: a heterogeneous B. bassiana/B. brongniartii group from New Zealand and other countries, a group containing only New Zealand B. bassiana, a group of only B. brongniartii from both New Zealand and overseas, and a group of other Beauveria species (B. velata, B. caledonica, B. amorpha and B. vermiconia). Restriction digestion of the internal transcribed spacer regions of the nuclear rDNA supported the existence of a genetically distinct New Zealand group of B. bassiana isolates, separating these from a heterogeneous group of B. bassiana and B. brongniartii.