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Appl Environ Microbiol, January 1998, p. 88-93, Vol. 64, No. 1
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Analysis of Hypervirulent Somatic Hybrids of the Entomopathogenic Fungi Beauveria bassiana and Beauveria sulfurescens

Muriel Viaud, Yvonne Couteaudier,^* and Guy Riba

Station de Recherches de Lutte Biologique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, La Minière, 78285 Guyancourt, France

Received 5 June 1997/Accepted 20 October 1997

Protoplast fusion of diauxotrophic mutants of a Beauveria bassiana entomopathogenic strain (Bb28) and a Beauveria sulfurescens toxinogenic strain (Bs2) produced hybrids which were significantly different from the parents in pathogenicity. Some of the hybrids were hypervirulent and killed insects more quickly than the Bb28 strain, probably because these hybrids had acquired the toxic activity of the Bs2 strain. By using six nuclear genes and a telomeric fingerprint probe, the molecular structures of the hybrids were studied. The results demonstrated the occurrence of parasexual events. Hybrids appeared to be diploid or aneuploid, with portions of the genome being heterozygous. A mitochondrial molecular marker indicated homoplasmy of the hybrids and inheritance of mitochondria from strain Bs2 or Bb28. The pathogenicities and the ploidies of the hybrids remained stable after passage through the host insect, showing that somatic hybridization provides an attractive method for the genetic improvement of biocontrol efficiency in the genus Beauveria.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Station de Recherches de Lutte Biologique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, La Minière, 78285 Guyancourt, France. Phone: 1 30 83 36 55. Fax: 1 30 43 80 97. E-mail: yvonne.couteaudier{at}jouy.inra.fr.

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