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Ribosomal RNA phylogeny of bacterial and fungal pathogens of Agriotes wireworms

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Abstract

Wireworms, the polyphagous larvae of click beetles belonging to the genus Agriotes (Coleoptera: Elateridae), are severe and widespread agricultural pests affecting numerous crops. Biological control agents and methods for this general pest are highly solicited. In a screening for microbial Agriotes pathogens, an intracellular bacterium and a mitosporic fungus were isolated. Phylogenetic analysis based on ribosomal RNA operon sequences of both micro-organisms corroborated their previous morphology-based taxonomic classification. The bacterial pathogen has been assigned to the taxonomic genus Rickettsiella (Gammaproteobacteria) wherein it represents a new pathotype, ‘Rickettsiella agriotidis’, that appears most closely related to subjective synonyms of the nomenclatural type species, Rickettsiella popillae. The fungal pathogen has been shown to belong to the form-species Beauveria bassiana, i.e., an obligate anamorph related to the genus Cordyceps (Ascomycota: Hypocreales). Furthermore, the B. bassiana strain from Agriotes has been shown to be potentially susceptible to identification by gIi-diagnosis, i.e., a diagnostic method making use of the strain-specific presence of self-splicing group-I introns within the ribosomal RNA operons of certain hyphomycetous fungi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Julius Kühn Institute (JKI), Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Biological Control, Heinrichstraße 243, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Andreas Leclerque, Polina V. Mitkovets, Ana-Cristina Fatu, Christina Schuster & Regina G. Kleespies

  2. Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Schnittspahnstraße 10, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Andreas Leclerque

  3. All-Russian Institute for Plant Protection, Chaussee Podbel’skogo 3, 196608, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Polina V. Mitkovets

  4. Research-Development Institute for Plant Protection (ICDPP), Blvd. Ion Ionescu de la Brad 8, 013813, OP 18, Bucharest, Romania

    Ana-Cristina Fatu

  5. Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI), Institut für Biologischen Pflanzenschutz, Heinrichstraße 243, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Regina G. Kleespies

Authors
  1. Andreas Leclerque
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  2. Polina V. Mitkovets
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  3. Ana-Cristina Fatu
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  4. Christina Schuster
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  5. Regina G. Kleespies
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Regina G. Kleespies.

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Communicated by M. Traugott

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Leclerque, A., Mitkovets, P.V., Fatu, AC. et al. Ribosomal RNA phylogeny of bacterial and fungal pathogens of Agriotes wireworms. J Pest Sci 86, 107–113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-012-0450-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-012-0450-1

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