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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Crop Bioprotection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #340573
Research Project: Development of Production and Formulation Technologies for Microbial Biopesticides in Conjunction with the Development of Attractants and Repellents for Invasive Insect Pests

Location: Crop Bioprotection Research

Title: Entomopathogen ID: a curated sequence resource for entomopathogenic fungi

Author
item Dunlap, Christopher
item Ramirez, Jose
item MASCARIN, GABRIEL - Embrapa
item Labeda, David

Submitted to: Mycologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/7/2017
Publication Date: 6/1/2018
Citation: Dunlap, C.A., Ramirez, J.L., Mascarin, G.M., Labeda, D.P. 2018. Entomopathogen ID: a curated sequence resource for entomopathogenic fungi. Mycologia. 111:897-904. doi:10.1007/s10482-017-0988-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-017-0988-2

Interpretive Summary: We report the development and release of a publicly accessible database that provides a method to accurately identify insect-killing fungi based on DNA data. This database will allow for improved identification and more consistent nomenclature of these fungi, which are used to control insect pests. Improved identification of these agriculturally important fungi will enhance research, regulation and the communication of ideas related to these microbes. These insect-killing organisms serve as beneficial microbial biological control agents in integrated pest management systems. This research benefits U.S. farmers and consumers that rely on crops impacted by insect pests.

Technical Abstract: We report the development of a publicly accessible, curated database of Hypocrealean entomopathogenic fungi sequence data. The goal is to provide a platform for users to easily access sequence data from reference strains. The database can be used to accurately identify unknown entomopathogenic fungi based on sequence data for a variety of phylogenetically informative loci. The database provides full multi-locus sequence alignment capabilities. The initial release contains data compiled for 525 strains covering the phylogenetic diversity of three important entomopathogenic taxonomic families: Clavicipitaceae, Cordycipitaceae, and Ophiocordycipitaceae. Furthermore, the EntomopathogenID can be expanded to other fungal clades that cause important diseases to beneficial and pest arthropods, thus allowing storage of limitless number of specimens and enabling isolate characterization or even evolutionary or functional analyses. We content this freely available, web-accessible database will facilitate the broader community to identify quickly and accurately fungal entomopathogens as well as effectively communicate research results.