Different Species Of Aspergillus Research Articles

Case Report: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in a 21-year-old female patient with no prior asthma

Hypersensitivity brought on by Aspergillus causes a lung illness known as allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). ABPA is a common fungal disease that affects individuals with uncontrolled asthma, cystic fibrosis, and immunocompromised patients. Aspergillus mould species are highly prevalent in the environment, especially in organic waste. There are more than a hundred different species of Aspergillus throughout the world, but the most common offenders are Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Aspergillus clavatus. Several Aspergillus species, most notably Aspergillus fumigatus, are responsible for human diseases. Depending on the amount and virulence of inhaled Aspergillus and the host’s genetic vulnerability and immunity, Aspergillus can produce allergic or allergic (Aspergillus-mediated allergies and asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonia, and ABPA pulmonary disorders. Because of its unique appearance, particularly when there is no medical history of asthma, it may be challenging to diagnose in some circumstances. Although side effects from treating ABPA are regularly described, cumulative medication toxicity caused by several compounds is uncommon. It’s essential to make a wise decision among the several compounds that are available and efficient against ABPA. We document a case of ABPA in a female patient who had no prior history of asthma. She had complained about having trouble breathing. The presence of specific IgE antibodies against Aspergillus fumigatus & an elevated eosinophil count were used to make the diagnosis of ABPA.

Analysis of Fungal Infections and Public Community Literature in Iran: A Systematic Review

Context: Today, the emergence of fungal infections in public places has become a focus, especially in developing countries. Objectives: The present study aimed to study the literature on fungal infections in public places in Iran to find a variety of fungal infections. Study Selection: A search was performed to identify relevant studies in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Scientific Information Database (SID), and Magiran databases from 2010 to 2022 using special keywords and equivalents. Overall, 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. Finally, the required information was extracted and discussed. Results: The research findings indicate that the research design of most of the papers was cross-sectional. Most of the studies in the field of fungal infections in public environments in Iran have been carried out in places such as swimming pools, schools, some health-related environments, cultivation environments, and soil. Different species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor, and Mucormycosis were identified in the environments. Conclusions: Examination of different species showed a combination of superficial, skin, mucosal, and visceral fungal infections observed in public places. Prevention and environmental analysis should be given more attention by health policy-makers in order to reinforce public health.

Pathological Diagnosis of Pulmonary Aspergillosis.

Pulmonary aspergillosis constitutes an increasingly prevalent and potentially fatal complex of mycotic diseases, caused by different species of Aspergillus. The broad spectrum of pathological manifestations associated with pulmonary aspergillosis necessitates a differentiation of commensalism from saprophytic colonization, hypersensitivity reactions, and true invasive infections, which highlights the importance of histopathology as a gold standard in a diagnostic setting. For the past decades, changes in terminology and contradicting contributions from different diagnostic disciplines have made the classification of pulmonary aspergillosis rather confusing. This review offers a categorization of aspergillosis lesions based on what can be histopathologically identified and distinguished, differentiating between acute invasive infection and forms of subacute, chronic, and allergic diseases and coinfections, and summarizes important manifestations of lesions associated with the different forms of pulmonary aspergillosis.

Accelerated Degradation of four Organophosphorus Insecticides by Malathion Tolerant Aspergillus niger MRU01 a Soil Fungus

Insecticides are widely used in agriculture, horticulture, medicine, and industry, as well as domestically. Increased insecticide application has been attributed to higher agricultural productivity and lower infield and postharvest crop loss in the twentieth century. Malathion is a very commonly used organophosphorus (OP) insecticide applied in over 100 food crops in agriculture and post-harvest storage. Different species of Aspergillus have shown their efficiency to degrade OP chemicals. A malathion tolerant Aspergillus niger MRU01, developed by prolonged malathion exposure, was tested for its efficiency to remove malathion as well as three other commonly used OP insecticides, viz., parathion, chlorpyrifos and dimethoate. The tolerant strain showed growth efficiency as well as enhanced production of phosphatases and esterase enzyme as compared to untreated and treated wild type (A. niger ATCC16404). The removal of malathion was 29% and 68%, in the wild type and the tolerant strain, respectively during five days. The tolerant strain was also able to remove dimethoate (63%) and chlorpyrifos (54%) with high efficiency while a low rate of removal of parathion (33%) was observed. The strain can be tested in the microcosms more specifically for bioremediation of other OP insecticides before its application in the field.

Microbial and clinical epidemiology of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the divergent causative agents.

Since COVID-19 spread worldwide, invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFRS) has emerged in immunocompromised patients as a new clinical challenge. In this study, clinical specimens of 89 COVID-19 patients who presented clinical and radiological evidence suggestive of IFRS were examined by direct microscopy, histopathology, and culture, and the isolated colonies were identified through DNA sequence analysis. Fungal elements were microscopically observed in 84.27% of the patients. Males (53.9%) and patients over 40 (95.5%) were more commonly affected than others. Headache (94.4%) and retro-orbital pain (87.6%) were the most common symptoms, followed by ptosis/proptosis/eyelid swelling (52.8%), and 74 patients underwent surgery and debridement. The most common predisposing factors were steroid therapy (n=83, 93.3%), diabetes mellitus (n=63, 70.8%), and hypertension (n=42, 47.2%). The culture was positive for 60.67% of the confirmed cases, and Mucorales were the most prevalent (48.14%) causative fungal agents. Different species of Aspergillus (29.63%) and Fusarium (3.7%) and a mix of two filamentous fungi (16.67%) were other causative agents. For 21 patients, no growth was seen in culture despite a positive result on microscopic examinations. In PCR-sequencing of 53 isolates, divergent fungal taxons, including 8 genera and 17 species, were identified as followed: Rhizopus oryzae (n=22), Aspergillus flavus (n=10), A. fumigatus (n=4), A. niger (n=3), R. microsporus (n=2), Mucor circinelloides, Lichtheimia ramosa, Apophysomyces variabilis, A. tubingensis, A. alliaceus, A. nidulans, A. calidoustus, Fusarium fujikuroi/proliferatum, F. oxysporum, F. solani, Lomentospora prolificans, and Candida albicans (each n=1). In conclusion, a diverse set of species involved in COVID-19-associated IFRS was observed in this study. Our data encourage specialist physicians to consider the possibility of involving various species in IFRS in immunocompromised and COVID-19 patients. In light of utilizing molecular identification approaches, the current knowledge of microbial epidemiology of invasive fungal infections, especially IFRS, may change dramatically.

On the Response to Aging of OPEFB/Acrylic Composites: A Fungal Degradation Perspective.

Biological agents and their metabolic activity produce significant changes over the microstructure and properties of composites reinforced with natural fibers. In the present investigation, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber-reinforced acrylic thermoplastic composites were elaborated at three processing temperatures and subjected to water immersion, Prohesion cycle, and continuous salt-fog aging testing. After exposition, microbiological identification was accomplished in terms of fungal colonization. The characterization was complemented by weight loss, mechanical, infrared, and thermogravimetric analysis, as well as scanning electron microscopy. As a result of aging, fungal colonization was observed exclusively after continuous salt fog treatment, particularly by different species of Aspergillus spp. genus. Furthermore, salt spray promoted filamentous fungi growth producing hydrolyzing enzymes capable of degrading the cell walls of OPEFB fibers. In parallel, these fibers swelled due to humidity, which accelerated fungal growth, increased stress, and caused micro-cracks on the surface of composites. This produced the fragility of the composites, increasing Young's modulus, and decreasing both elongation at break and toughness. The infrared spectra showed changes in the intensity and appearance of bands associated with functional groups. Thermogravimetric results confirmed fungal action as the main cause of the deterioration.

A pseudo-outbreak of COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis: a microbiological investigation of both the patients and the environment.

We experienced a pseudo-outbreak of aspergillosis in a newly constructed COVID-19 ward. Within the first 3months from the commencement of the ward, six intubated patients of COVID-19 developed probable or possible pulmonary aspergillosis. We suspected an outbreak of pulmonary aspergillosis associated with ward construction and launched air sampling for the investigation of the relationship between these. The samples were collected at 13 locations in the prefabricated ward and three in the general wards, not under construction, as a control. The results from samples revealed different species of Aspergillus from those detected by the patients. Aspergillus sp. was detected not only from the air samples in the prefabricated ward but also in the general ward. In this investigation, we could not find evidence of the outbreak that links the construction of the prefabricated ward with the occurrence of pulmonary aspergillosis. It might suggest that this series of aspergillosis was more likely occurred from fungi that inherently colonized patients, and was associated with patient factors such as severe COVID-19 rather than environmental factors. Once an outbreak originating from building construction is suspected, it is important to conduct an environmental investigation including an air sampling.

Environmental fungal spore aerosolization: a review

Bioaerosol containing fungal spores became public health hazards. The aerosols contain the fungal spores of different species of Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Chaetomium, Penicillium, Wallemia, Stachybotrys etc. and caused various life-threatening respiratory diseases such as hypersensitivity, pneumonia, Aspergillosis, Candidiasis, Mucormycosis, Cancer, etc. They are easily transmitted from one individual to another. They also cause extreme damage to crops and create problems in food security by producing mycotoxins. The transmissions of fungal spores depend upon the environmental factor, seasonal variation, growth surface, type of fungal spore, etc. There are various biophysical, biochemical and molecular techniques that are present to detect fungal spores in aerosol. There are numerous physical and chemical agents that can kill fungi. Good public health and food security can be achieved through the detection and management of fungal spores in aerosols.

Aspergillus-bees: A dynamic symbiotic association.

Besides representing one of the most relevant threats of fungal origin to human and animal health, the genus Aspergillus includes opportunistic pathogens which may infect bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in all developmental stages. At least 30 different species of Aspergillus have been isolated from managed and wild bees. Some efficient behavioral responses (e.g., diseased brood removal) exerted by bees negatively affect the chance to diagnose the pathology, and may contribute to the underestimation of aspergillosis importance in beekeeping. On the other hand, bee immune responses may be affected by biotic and abiotic stresses and suffer from the loose co-evolutionary relationships with Aspergillus pathogenic strains. However, if not pathogenic, these hive mycobiota components can prove to be beneficial to bees, by affecting the interaction with other pathogens and parasites and by detoxifying xenobiotics. The pathogenic aptitude of Aspergillus spp. likely derives from the combined action of toxins and hydrolytic enzymes, whose effects on bees have been largely overlooked until recently. Variation in the production of these virulence factors has been observed among strains, even belonging to the same species. Toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains/species may co-exist in a homeostatic equilibrium which is susceptible to be perturbed by several external factors, leading to mutualistic/antagonistic switch in the relationships between Aspergillus and bees.

Multi-Mycotoxin Contamination, Mold Incidence and Risk Assessment of Aflatoxin in Maize Kernels Originating from Nepal

Occurrence of mycotoxins in staple foods is a major threat to attaining food safety in developing countries. The study investigated multi-mycotoxin contamination for the first time in Nepalese maize along with the incidence of molds in 45 samples of maize used as human food from 45 districts of Nepal. The samples were analyzed quantitatively for the presence of five different mycotoxins (total aflatoxins (AF), total fumonisins (FUM), ochratoxin (OT), zearalenone (ZEA) and (DON) deoxynivalenol) using the competitive direct ELISA technique. The most frequent occurrences were for DON (100%) and AF (78%) followed by FUM and ZEA (both 76%) and OT (62%). Interestingly, all the samples contained at least two mycotoxins while at least three or more mycotoxins were found in 87% of the samples. The most commonly reported binary, ternary and quaternary combinations were DON+AF, AF+FUM+DON and AF+FUM+ZEA+DON, respectively. The mean percentage kernel mold infection was 35.33% with Fusarium, Aspergillus, Rhizopus and Penicillium genera being the predominant molds. Six different species of Aspergillus and a single species of Fusarium were identified. The estimated daily intake, margin of exposure and risk of liver cancer from consuming maize were 30.46 ng/kg bw/day and 5.58 and 0.38 cancer cases/year/100,000 population, respectively. Since maize is the second-most consumed cereal in Nepal, the contamination levels of various mycotoxins and the incidence of molds identified in the study suggests that stricter control is needed to safeguard the health of the substantial population consuming maize as a staple diet.

Unravelling the Molecular Identification and Antifungal Susceptibility Profiles of Aspergillus spp. Isolated from Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis Patients in Jakarta, Indonesia: The Emergence of Cryptic Species.

Cryptic species of Aspergillus have rapidly increased in the last few decades. Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is a debilitating fungal infection frequently affecting patients with previous TB. The identification and antifungal susceptibility profiles of different species of Aspergillus are important to support the management of CPA. The aim of this study was to describe the molecular and susceptibility profiles of Aspergillus isolated from CPA patients. The species identity of isolates was determined by combined DNA analyses of internal transcribed space (ITS), partial β-tubulin genes, and part of the calmodulin gene. We revealed a high (27%) prevalence of cryptic species among previous tuberculosis patients with persistent symptoms. Twenty-nine (49%) patients met the criteria for diagnosis of CPA with 24% containing Aspergillus cryptic species. This is the first report of five cryptic Aspergillus species from clinical isolates in Indonesia: A. aculea tus, A. neoniger, A. brunneoviolacues, A. welwitschiae, and A. tubingensis. Significantly, there was decreased sensitivity against itraconazole in the CPA group (66% susceptible to itraconazole) compared to the non-CPA group (90% susceptible to itraconazole) (p = 0.003). The species-level characterisation of Aspergillus and its antifungal susceptibility tests demands greater attention to better the management of CPA patients.

Citrinin Mycotoxin Contamination in Food and Feed: Impact on Agriculture, Human Health, and Detection and Management Strategies.

Citrinin (CIT) is a mycotoxin produced by different species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Monascus. CIT can contaminate a wide range of foods and feeds at any time during the pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest stages. CIT can be usually found in beans, fruits, fruit and vegetable juices, herbs and spices, and dairy products, as well as red mold rice. CIT exerts nephrotoxic and genotoxic effects in both humans and animals, thereby raising concerns regarding the consumption of CIT-contaminated food and feed. Hence, to minimize the risk of CIT contamination in food and feed, understanding the incidence of CIT occurrence, its sources, and biosynthetic pathways could assist in the effective implementation of detection and mitigation measures. Therefore, this review aims to shed light on sources of CIT, its prevalence in food and feed, biosynthetic pathways, and genes involved, with a major focus on detection and management strategies to ensure the safety and security of food and feed.

Hakuhybotric acid, a new antifungal polyketide produced by a mycoparasitic fungus Hypomyces pseudocorticiicola FKI-9008.

A new antifungal polyketide, named hakuhybotric acid (1), was isolated from a cultured broth of a mycoparasitic fungus Hypomyces pseudocorticiicola FKI-9008, together with two known analogs, F2928-1 (2) and Cladobotric acid E (3). Their structures were elucidated by MS and NMR analyses. Hakuhybotric acid was a new analog of Cladobotric acid where two epoxy groups in F2928-1 were replaced with olefins. All compounds showed antifungal activity against four different species of Aspergillus spp., the causative agents of aspergillosis. It was suggested that mycoparasitic fungi are a useful source to search antifungal drug lead compounds.

Biosynthesis of selenium nanoparticles by Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans for antifungal applications

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles can replace the available chemical and physical methods by offering new procedures as green syntheses that have proved to be simple, biocompatible, safe, and cost-effective. Recently, antifungal resistance has been reported against different species of Aspergillus and Candida opportunistic fungi. Selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) were biosynthesized using standard strains of A. flavus and C. albicans. The presence of NPs was confirmed by UV-Vis, FT-IR, FESEM, EDX, XRD, and Zeta potential. Common fungal strains were cultured in Sabouraud dextrose agar medium to perform the sensitivity test based on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method in duplicate. The utilization of Se-NPs at concentrations of 1, 0.5, and 0.25 μg/mL or in some strains even more minor than 0.125 μg/mL resulted in zero growth of fungal agents. However, antifungal drugs inhibited their growth at concentrations of 2, 4, 8, 16, and 64 μg/mL itraconazole (ITC). Also, MIC breakpoints for amphotericin B (AMB) and anidulafungin (AFG) were 2 μg/mL for defining resistance in some isolates. Based on the obtained results, biological NPs produced by Aspergillus and Candida at different concentrations exhibited favourable inhibitory effects on the growth of fungal strains.

#35: Rapid, Non-invasive Detection and Serial Monitoring of Invasive Fungal Infections in Immunocompromised Children Using the Karius Test (a Plasma-based Microbial Cell-free DNA Sequencing Test)

Abstract Background A diverse spectrum of invasive molds and fungi cause serious opportunistic infections in immunocompromised (IC) children. Their overlap in clinical presentation can make it challenging to differentiate among etiologies and optimally tailor antifungal therapy. Current methods to identify these pathogens lack sensitivity, are limited by long turnaround times and require an array of individual tests on invasively obtained specimens. The delay or lack of a pathogen diagnosis in combination with the reliance on invasive procedures leads to a dependence on broad empiric therapy, the development of antimicrobial resistance and increases in morbidity and mortality. Rapid, non-invasive diagnosis of invasive fungal infections through next-generation sequencing (NGS) of plasma microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) offers a means to overcome these limitations. Methods Karius® Test (KT) results were reviewed for detections of Aspergillus, non-Aspergillus molds and Pneumocystis jirovecii (PJP) in children. KT, developed and validated in Karius’ CLIA certified/CAP accredited lab, detects microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) can assist with the diagnosis of invasive infections. McfDNA is extracted, NGS is performed, human sequences removed and remaining sequences aligned to a curated pathogen database of >1400 organisms. Organisms present above a statistical threshold are reported and quantified. For > 85% of tests the time to result reporting is 24 hours from sample receipt. Clinical information was included from data submitted with the requisition or obtained at the time of reporting from clinical consultations with the provider. Results KT detected 7 different species of Aspergillus in 61 patients (74% IC, 40% with a pulmonary focus). KT detected 15 different non-Aspergillus molds in 51 patients (80% IC, 36% with a pulmonary focus). KT detected PJP in 37 patients (73% IC, 76% with a pulmonary focus, 54% with a DNA virus co-detection and 32% with a herpesvirus co-detections). There were 31 subjects with serial monitoring (97% IC, 70% with a pulmonary focus) including 48% with Aspergillus, 39% with non-Aspergillus molds and 12% with PJP (Figure 1). 71% of subjects demonstrated a decline in the quantitative mcfDNA signal over time; the duration of a positive mcfDNA signal ranged from 3–92 days (median 16 days, SD 22.4). Conclusions Plasma mcfDNA NGS offers a rapid, non-invasive means of detecting a broad diversity of invasive pathogens that overlap in their clinical presentations and are difficult to identify in immunocompromised children. The rapid turnaround time, non-invasive sampling and 1-sample-1000+test-solution may lead to a faster time to pathogen diagnosis, faster time to targeted therapy and obviate the need for invasive diagnostic procedures. The ability with a single test to concomitantly diagnose co-pathogens including reactivating herpesviruses that modulate the progression of principal infecting fungal pathogens (i.e. cytomegalovirus modulation of PJP) can help optimize care. Additionally, this convenient non-invasive means of serial testing of invasive fungal infections may serve as an indicator of burden of infection, provide insight into treatment efficacy and ultimately help define the length and mode (medical/surgical) of therapy required to improve outcomes. Additional studies correlating the mcfDNA signal with individual patient clinical and radiographic parameters will be important to further define the utility of serial mcfDNA monitoring.

Effects of Process Parameters on the Activities of Enzymes by Different Species of Aspergillus in Crude Polluted Soil Sites

The effects of temperature, pH and incubation time on amylase, protease and cellulase activity by different species of Aspergillus in crude oil polluted soil sites in Nigeria were studied. Incubation period, Optimal pH values and temperatures for the enzymes produced by the different micro‐organisms were determined. The production of amylase by A. fumigatus and A. niger isolated from crude oil polluted sites showed that both fungi had their peaks on the first day of incubation for amylase, protease and cellulase. A. niger showed higher stability across a range of pH (3-6) and temperature (25-70oC) changes in all the enzyme activities. Further experiments are recommended to purify the secreted enzymes and stability studies will be performed to enhance the application of enzyme to commercial level.

Current Promising Therapeutic Targets for Aspergillosis Treatment

Aspergillosis is a fungal disease caused by different species of Aspergillus. They live in soil,dust and decomposed material. Number of Aspergillus species found till now is about 300 and more are still to be identified. Only few Aspergillus species can cause human disease and the most common species for human infection is Aspergillus fumigatus, which is a ubiquitous airborne saprophytic fungus. Severity of the disease ranges from an allergic response to life-threatening generalized infection. They grow optimally at 37°C and can grow upto 50°C. The fungal conidia are being constantly inhaled by humans and animals everyday normally gets eliminated by innate immune mechanism. Due to increasing number of immunocompromised patients, severe and fatal Aspergillosis cases have augmented. Currently, available antifungal drug for the treatment of Aspergillosis act on these three molecular target are 14 alpha demethylase for Azoles, ergosterol for Polyene and β-1,3-glucan synthase for Echinocandin. These antifungal drug show high resistance problem and toxicity. So, it is high time to develop new drugs for treatment with reduced toxicity and drug resistant problem. Synthesis of essential amino acid is absent in human as they obtain it from their diet but fungi synthesis these amino acid. Thus, enzymes in this pathway acts as novel drug target. This article summarizes promising drug targets presents in different metabolic pathway of Aspergillus genome and discusses their molecular functions in detail. This review also list down the inhibitors of these novel target. We present a comprehensive review that will pave way for discovery and development of novel antifungals against these drug targets for Aspergillosis treatment.

Natural Killer Cell Line NK-92-Mediated Damage of Medically Important Fungi.

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is associated with high morbidity and mortality. As the antifungal host response determines risk and outcome of IFD, there is growing interest in adoptive immunotherapy using T cells or natural killer (NK) cells. Although the NK-92 cell line has been tested as anticancer therapy in clinical trials, data on the antifungal activity of NK-92 cells are lacking. Here, we show that the NK-92 cell line exhibits considerable fungal damage on all medically important fungi tested, such as different species of Aspergillus, Candida, mucormycetes, and Fusarium. The extent of fungal damage differs across various species of mucormycetes and Fusarium, whereas it is comparable across different species of Aspergillus and Candida. Interferon (IFN)-γ levels in the supernatant were lower when NK-92 cells are co-incubated with Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, or Rhizopus arrhizus compared to the levels when NK-92 cells are incubated alone. Different to primary human NK cells, no increase of perforin levels in the supernatant was observed when the fungi were added to NK-92 cells. Our in vitro data demonstrated that the NK-92 cell line could be a feasible tool for antifungal immunotherapy, but data of animal models are warranted prior to clinical trials.

Variants of glycosyl hydrolase family 2 β-glucuronidases have increased activity on recalcitrant substrates

Glucuronidated drug metabolites can be quantified from urine samples by first hydrolyzing conjugates with β-glucuronidase (β-GUS) and then separating free drug molecules by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry detection (LC–MS). To improve the activity and specificity of various β-GUS, we designed enzyme chimeras and generated site-saturation variants based on structural analyses, then screened them for improved activity on drug metabolites important to clinical and forensic drug-testing laboratories. Often, an increase of activity on one substrate of interest was countered by loss of activity against another, and there was no strong correlation of activity on standard β-glucuronidase substrates to activity on recalcitrant drug glucuronides. However, we discovered a chimera of two enzymes from different species of Aspergillus that displays a 27 % increase in activity on morphine-3-glucuronide than the parent proteins. Furthermore, mutations in the M-loop, which is a loop near the active site, resulted in numerous variants with dramatically increased rates of hydrolysis on drug glucuronides. Specifically, the M-loop variant Q451D/A452E of a β-GUS from Brachyspira pilosicoli has a 50-fold and 25-fold increase in activity on the recalcitrant substrates codeine-6-glucuronide and dihydrocodeine-6-glucuronide, respectively, compared to the parent enzyme.

Characterization of fungal flora associated with sternorrhyncha insects of cotton plants

In this study, 22 different fungal isolates associated with naturally dead insects of order Hemiptera including Bemisia tabaci, Aphis gossypii and Phenacoccus solenopsis were isolated from three different agroecological zones namely hot arid, cotton and central mixed zone. Fungal species were characterized morphologically on the basis of colony color, shape and spore structures through using different dichotomous keys. As a result fungi belonging to different species of Aspergillus, Acremonium, Beauveria, Cladosporium, Alternaria, Clonostachys, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Fusarium, Metarhizium and Verticillium were identified. All isolates of individual species were identical with respect to morphological differentiation. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicates strong correlation between Verticillium lecanii and Aspergillus fumigatus with respect to their isolation source (insect host). However, based on PCA, an uneven distribution of entomopathogenic fungi in different insect hosts is evident. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Aspergillus fumigatus and A. nidulans are more closely related to different species of Penicillium, while Aspergillus oryzae and A. flavus formed separate clades, whereas different species of Alternaria, Cladosporium and Fusarium formed separate clades. Thus, the information generated will add to our understanding of the insect associated fungal communities for future development of potential biocontrol agents and their application as a vital component of sustainable agriculture.