The genome sequence of the biocontrol fungus Metarhizium anisopliae and comparative genomics of Metarhizium species

Abstract

BackgroundMetarhizium anisopliae is an important fungal biocontrol agent of insect pests of agricultural crops. Genomics can aid the successful commercialization of biopesticides by identification of key genes differentiating closely related species, selection of virulent microbial isolates which are amenable to industrial scale production and formulation and through the reduction of phenotypic variability. The genome of Metarhizium isolate ARSEF23 was recently published as a model for M. anisopliae, however phylogenetic analysis has since re-classified this isolate as M. robertsii. We present a new annotated genome sequence of M. anisopliae (isolate Ma69) and whole genome comparison to M. robertsii (ARSEF23) and M. acridum (CQMa 102).ResultsWhole genome analysis of M. anisopliae indicates significant macrosynteny with M. robertsii but with some large genomic inversions. In comparison to M. acridum, the genome of M. anisopliae shares lower sequence homology. While alignments overall are co-linear, the genome of M. acridum is not contiguous enough to conclusively observe macrosynteny. Mating type gene analysis revealed both MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 genes present in M. anisopliae suggesting putative homothallism, despite having no known teleomorph, in contrast with the putatively heterothallic M. acridum isolate CQMa 102 (MAT1-2) and M. robertsii isolate ARSEF23 (altered MAT1-1). Repetitive DNA and RIP analysis revealed M. acridum to have twice the repetitive content of the other two species and M. anisopliae to be five times more RIP affected than M. robertsii. We also present an initial bioinformatic survey of candidate pathogenicity genes in M. anisopliae.ConclusionsThe annotated genome of M. anisopliae is an important resource for the identification of virulence genes specific to M. anisopliae and development of species- and strain- specific assays. New insight into the possibility of homothallism and RIP affectedness has important implications for the development of M. anisopliae as a biopesticide as it may indicate the potential for greater inherent diversity in this species than the other species. This could present opportunities to select isolates with unique combinations of pathogenicity factors, or it may point to instability in the species, a negative attribute in a biopesticide.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-660) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Improving mycoinsecticides for insect biological control

“…(Cordyceps) bassiana, M. robertsii, M. anisopliae, and the narrower host specific locust pathogen, Metarhizium acridum (Gao et al 2011;Pattemore et al 2014;Xiao et al 2012;Zheng et al 2013). In addition, extensive transcriptomics data including of these fungi growing on insect cuticles are available (Cho et al 2006a;Cho et al 2006b;Freimoser et al 2003;Mantilla et al 2012).…”

Multiplexed microsatellite markers for seven Metarhizium species

“…BLAST searches with reference sequences for these SSR markers (Enkerli et al 2005;Oulevey et al 2009) demonstrated their presence and broad distribution in the genomes of M. anisopliae, M. brunneum and M. robertsii (Hu et al 2014;Pattemore et al 2014;Supplemental Table S2). …”

KERAGAMAN GENETIK Metarhizium anisopliae DAN VIRULENSINYA PADA LARVA KUMBANG BADAK (Oryctes rhinoceros) (GENETIC DIVERSITY of Metarhizium anisopliae AND VIRULENCE TOWARD LARVAE OF RHINOCEROS BEETLE (Oryctes rhinoceros))

“…Secara hayati, pengendalian O. rhinoceros dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan jamur entomopatogen Metarhizium anisopliae (Untung, 2001). Pattemore et al (2014) mengemukakan bahwa M. anisopliae dikelompokkan bersama tiga spesies lainnya, yaitu M. pingshaense, M. robertsii, dan M. brunneum. Menurut Freed et al (2011), melalui metode SSR (Sample Sequence Repeats) ditemukan bahwa M. anisopliae yang berasal dari China, Laos, Singapura, Belanda, dan Korea menunjukkan tingkat keragaman morfologi yang rendah meskipun memiliki distribusi yang luas.…”