Canadian Forest Service Publications
Molecular characterization of the entomopathogenic fungi Lecanicillium spp. (Deuteromycota: Hyphomycetes) isolated from white pine weevil, Pissodes strobi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in British Columbia. 2008. Leal, I.; Alfaro, R.I.; Lim, Y.W.; Kope, H.H. The Canadian Entomologist 140(2): 168-173.
Year: 2008
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 29271
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Abstract
The entomopathogenic fungal genus Lecanicillium Gams and Zare includes species that are highly pathogenic to many genera of insects. Three species, Lecanicillium longisporum (Petch) Zare and W. Gams, L. muscarium (Petch) Zare and W. Gams, and L. pissodis Kope and Leal, were found to be entomopathogens of adult white pine weevils, Pissodes strobi (Peck), in coastal British Columbia. Morphological characteristics were used to identify these species, but variation in conidial shape and size made it difficult to classify some of the isolates into the correct species of Lecanicillium. To confirm the identity of these Lecanicillium species, we used molecular tools such as polymerase chain reaction – restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing.