NEMATODES AND ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH TERMITES

Authors: Meikle, William; MERCADIER, GUY - USDA-ARS-EBCL; KIRK, ALAN - USDA-ARS-EBCL; BON, MARIE-CLAUDE - USDA-ARS-EBCL; SAWICKI, L - USDA-ARS-EBCL; DEROUANE, FRANCK - USDA-ARS-EBCL; PEPPUY, A - ORLAT, REUNION ISL; HE, YURONG - S CHINA AGR UNI, CHINA; REID, A - SCOTTISH MIN OF AG; Quimby Jr, Paul

Submitted to: Society for Invertebrate Pathology Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2003
Publication Date: 7/26/2003
Citation: Meikle, W.G., Mercadier, G., Kirk, A., Bon, M., Sawicki, L., Derouane, F., Peppuy, A., He, Y., Reid, A., Quimby Jr, P.C. 2003. Nematodes and entomopathogenic fungi associated with termites. Society for Invertebrate Pathology Annual Meeting.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: As part of a USDA/ ARS project on the biological control of Coptotermes formosanus, termites were collected in disparate locations (Australia, China, South Africa, Malaysia, Reunion Island, Singapore, Indonesia and mainland France), killed by cooling, placed onto agar plates and inspected daily in quarantine for at least two months for any pathogenic fungi to sporulate, or nematodes or protozoa to emerge. Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) repeat unit was used to identify two genera of nematodes, Mesorhabditis and Chroniodiplogaster, found associated with termites from several genera, including Odontotermes, Cryptotermes, Postelectrotermes and Coptotermes. The nematodes are being kept in culture on termites and on Galleria larvae for use in lab and field studies. Several species of entomopathogenic fungi were isolated from many outwardly healthy termites, including Paecilomyces farinosus, P. fumosoroseus, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae. Several Metarhizium isolates were selected for further study. Sequence analysis of the rDNA ITS allowed the classification of the isolates from Australia, South-East Asia, Reunion and Guadeloupe into the Metarhizium anisopliae var anisopliae group only. Relationships within the set of these isolates could not be clearly established using ITS sequence variability; accordingly, they were determined using a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. All fungal isolates are being kept in the pathogen collection at the European Biological Control Laboratory, and the utility of some isolates as control agents is being evaluated in field experiments.