Identification and Toxicity Evaluation of Beauveria sp. Associated with White Muscardine Disease in Muga Silkworm Antheraea assamensis Helfer Saharia Sanghamitra1,*, Nath Manabendra2, Kalita Shibani1, Kalita Dimpimoni1, Bardoloi Sunayan3 1Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Guwahati781014, Assam, India 2Department of Botany, Gauhati University, Guwahati781014, Assam, India 3Department of Zoology, Girijananda Chowdhury University, Guwahati781017, Assam, India *Email: sanghamitrasaharia90@gmail.com (corresponding author): ORCID ID 0000-0001-8106-3166
Online Published on 31 August, 2024. Abstract The present study is an effort to isolate and identify the Beauveria sp. from white muscardine infected Antheraea assamensis Helfer (muga silkworm) larvae collected from rearing fields. The isolate was subjected to morphological identification followed by DNA barcoding analysis by sequencing the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region. The isolate was identified morphologically up to genus level. For molecular identification, the DNA was first isolated, amplified by using PCR followed by sequencing the ITS region. A phylogenetic tree was also constructed based on the data obtained from sequencing to trace the evolutionary history of the isolated fungus. The fungal species was identified as Beauveria bassiana with 98.6% sequence similarity with already documented B. bassiana strains. The toxicity of the isolated fungus was also evaluated against A. assamensis larvae. The LC value was determined at 96 hr and recorded at 1.1x108 spore/ml concentration. Top Keywords Beauveria sp, B. bassiana, Antheraea assamensis, Morphology, ITS region, BLAST, Sequence, Phylogenetic analysis, LC50, White muscardine disease, Hyphae, Conidia, Instar. Top |