Bioexploration and Phylogenetic Placement of Entomopathogenic Fungi of the Genus Beauveria in Soils of Lebanon Cedar Forests.

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. T

SUBMITTER: Al Khoury C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8622946 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature