Tuesday, 9 September 2025

Morphological and Molecular Variations in Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin Isolates Collected from Three States of Southwest Nigeria | Chapter 11 | Research Perspective on Biological Science Vol. 6

 

Beauveria bassiana is an entomopathogenic fungus that grows naturally in the soil all around the world and occurs in a wide range of habitats, in forest soil and soils of urban areas. It is one of the most common entomopathogenic fungi that is parasitic to several arthropod species and can cause infection at all stages of life for the host insect. Beauveria bassiana exhibits variations in molecular composition across varying locations. This study aims to detect variations in the Beauveria species collected from some locations in Ondo, Osun and Oyo States of South West Nigeria. Ten isolates of B. bassiana isolated from soil samples collected from forest and urban sites in three States of Southwest Nigeria were characterised using morphological and molecular tools. The morphological characteristics examined included radial growth, colour of colonies, texture, shape of the spores and filaments and the relationship of the spores to the filaments. Means were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at a 0.05% level of significance. DNA was extracted from the isolates, and results from the OTU clustering were sequenced using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. Results showed slight variation in colour of the colonies, varying from whitish cream to white, having smooth, powdery textures with colonies becoming more identical as plates extended, with no significant differences in texture and elevation of the colonies. The radial growth of the isolates was fast, with complete plate cover of the 9 cm Petri dish plates within 7 days for all the isolates. Microscopic observations (×10 and ×100) revealed whorled conidiophores with dense clusters of short, globose conidiogenous cells showing an apical zigzag pattern and producing one-celled spherical conidia, contributing to colony uniformity. Isolate sequences showed a 100% homology to B. bassiana having molecular character variations with isolates 6, 4, 9, 3, 2 having percentage similarity of 99.86 with B. bassiana with accession no BbN06B02, isolate 5 had a percentage similarity of 90.62 with B. bassiana with accession number MW633220.198-48 and isolates 7 and 8 had a percentage similarity of 99.18 with B. bassiana with accession number AY805547.1:180-346 as represented in the dendrogramic tree. These observed variations could be utilised in biological insect pest management. Further pathogenicity testing is recommended to determine the effect of location variation on the virulence of the B. bassiana.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Oluwadara, A. B.
The Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.

 

Oni, M. O.
The Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.

 

Adebayo, R. A.
The Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.

 

Fayeun, L. S.
The Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.

 

Ajayi, O. O
Soil Microbiology Unit, The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rpbs/v6/5789

No comments:

Post a Comment