Biogeography and genotypic diversity of metarhizium brunneum and metarhizium robertsii in northwestern North American soils

The biogeography and genotype diversity of Metarhizium species in northwestern North American soils was examined; twenty ecoregions were sampled, including 58 agricultural and 80 natural habitat subsites, and areas that were glaciated during the Pleistocene epoch. One hundred and twenty nine isolates of M. brunneum, 26 isolates of M. robertsii, four isolates of M. guizhouense, one isolate of M. flavoviride, and 55 isolates of Beauveria were recovered. Metarhizium and Beauveria species were isolated in diverse ecoregions within the study area, but a trend for increased isolation of Metarhizium species in western regions of the study area was observed. Consistent with this observation, the prevalence of M. brunneum and M. robertsii decreased at higher elevations, and the opposite was true for Beauveria. Both M. brunneum and M. robertsii were more commonly isolated from agricultural and natural habitat subsites, and considerable genotypic diversity was observed in both habitats and within the same subsite. Metarhizium robertsii but not M. brunneum was more commonly isolated from non-glaciated locations; however, less diversity and richness was observed for M. brunneum recovered from glaciated versus non-glaciated locations consistent with insular biogeography. The study has implications for microbial control strategies in the region. [194 words]
Key words: Metarhizium; brunneum; robertsii; microsatellite; diversity; glaciation; insular biogeography; microbial control