Cross-species transferability of 41 microsatellite markers for Metarhizium spp.

Abstract: The genus Metarhizium includes insect pathogenic fungal species, which are used asbiological control agents (BCAs). Genetic tools for identification and monitoring of such BCAsare important. A genotyping tool based on 41 simple sequence reapeat (SSR) markers has beendeveloped for M. anisopliae s.l. However, detailed phylogenetic analyses based on a multilocusapproach revealed that M. anisopliae s.l. is a cryptic species complex of nine differentMetarhizium species. According to this new taxonomy, the 41 SSR markers were isolated fromM. brunneum, M. robertsii or M. anisopliae s.s. The goal of this study was to assess thetransferability of the 41 SSR markers to individual species of the former M. anisopliae speciescomplex. Successful PCR-amplification of SSR markers was observed in all species but thenumber of loci yielding PCR products varied among species. Amplification of individual SSRloci did not always yield products for all strains of a particular species and not all werepolymorphic. The study revealed that SSR markers can be transferred to different species of theformer M. anisopliae species complex. However, the number of available SSR markers stronglydepends on the species to be analyzed. The markers will provide a valuable tool for identificationand monitoring of Metarhizium BCAs and they will allow investigation of genetic diversity andpopulation structure of seven species of the former M. anisopliae species complex.