RAPD-PCR characterization of Beauveria bassiana isolates from the rice water weevil Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus

Abstract

B.E. Urtz and W.C. Rice. 1997. Random amplified polymorphic DNA‐polymerase chain reaction (RAPD‐PCR) was used to examine the genetic variability among Beauveria bassiana isolates from infected rice water weevil (RWW), Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus, collected in south‐western Louisiana. Most of the B. bassiana isolates tightly clustered into one or the other of two groups that diverged at the 65% similarity level. Three soil isolates also clustered within the two groups while one soil isolate did not tightly cluster (mean similarity = 65%) with any of the RWW isolates. The results suggest that certain genotypes of B. bassiana commonly infect RWW while others do not.