''Lecanicillium lecanii'' is now an approved name of an

entomopathogenic fungus An entomopathogenic fungus is a fungus that can kill or seriously disable insects. Typical life cycle These fungi usually attach to the external body surface of insects in the form of microscopic spores (usually asexual, mitosporic spores also ...

species, that was previously widely known as ''

Verticillium ''Verticillium'' is a genus of fungi in the division Ascomycota, and are an anamorphic form of the family Plectosphaerellaceae. The genus used to include diverse groups comprising saprobes and parasites of higher plants, insects, nematodes, mo ...

lecanii'' (Zimmerman) Viegas), but is now understood to be an

anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an ase ...

ic form in the ''

Cordyceps ''Cordyceps'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) that includes about 600 species. Most ''Cordyceps'' species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods (they are thus entomopathogenic fungi); a few are parasiti ...

'' group of genera in the

Clavicipitaceae The Clavicipitaceae are a family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genera in the family, but recent work has increased this number to 97. Phylogeny Molecular phylogenetic analysis of multigene DNA sequence data ...

Isolate Isolate may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film * ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007 * ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992 Language * Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...

s formerly classified as ''V. lecanii'' could be ''L. attenuatum, L. lecanii, L. longisporum, L. muscarium'' or ''L. nodulosum''. For example, several recent papers, such as Kouvelis ''et al.'' who carried out

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

studies, refer to the name ''L. muscarium''. ''L. lecanii'' itself appears primarily to be a pathogen of soft scale insects (

Coccidae The Coccidae are a family of scale insects belonging to the superfamily Coccoidea. They are commonly known as soft scales, wax scales or tortoise scales. The females are flat with elongated oval bodies and a smooth integument which may be cover ...

Synonyms

The

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names ( scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of M ...

, referring to ''L. lecanii'', lists the following

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

: * ''

Cephalosporium ''Acremonium'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hypocreaceae. It used to be known as ''Cephalosporium''. Description ''Acremonium'' species are usually slow-growing and are initially compact and moist. Their hyphae are fine and hyaline, and p ...

coccorum'' Petch, Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 10: 175 (1925) 924* ''Cephalosporium dipterigenum'' Petch, Naturalist (Hull), ser. 3: 102 (1931) * ''Cephalosporium lecanii'' Zimm., Teysmannia 9: 243 (1898) * ''Cephalosporium lecanii'' f. coccorum (Petch) Bałazy, Borbäsia 14: 132 (1973) * ''Cephalosporium subclavatum'' Petch, Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 25: 262 (1942) 941* ''

confragosa'' (Mains) G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, in Sung, Hywel-Jones, Sung, Luangsa-ard, Shrestha & Spatafora, Stud. Mycol. 57: 49 (2007) * ''Sporotrichum lichenicola'' Berk. & Broome, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 14(2): 102 (1875) * '' Torrubiella confragosa'' Mains, Mycologia 41(3): 305 (1949) * ''

coccorum'' (Petch) Westerd., CBS List of Cultures (Baarn): 103 (1935) * ''Verticillium lecanii'' (Zimm.) Viégas, Revista Inst. Café São Paulo 14: 754 (1939)

Role in Horticulture

This fungus was first described in 1861 and has a worldwide distribution.

Insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

are infected when they come into contact with the sticky fungal

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

which then grow and invade the body, thus the internal organs are consumed, leading to their death. In

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, "''V. lecanii''"

isolate Isolate may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film * ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007 * ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992 Language * Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...

s were developed for controlling insect pests such as

whitefly Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described. Description and taxonomy The A ...

thrips Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

and

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

s, by RA Hall and HD Burges (scientists at the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute, now Warwick HRI: formerly part of

Horticulture Research International Warwick HRI (formerly Horticulture Research International) was a United Kingdom organisation tasked with carrying out horticultural research and development and transferring the results to industry in England. History Horticulture Research Intern ...

Biological pesticide A Biopesticide is a biological substance or organism that damages, kills, or repels organisms seens as pests. Biological pest management intervention involves predatory, parasitic, or chemical relationships. They are obtained from organisms inclu ...

s based on ''

Lecanicillium ''Lecanicillium'' is a genus of fungi in the order Hypocreales and is described as anamorphic Cordycipitaceae; 21 species are currently described. Some of these entomopathogenic fungus species were previously widely known as ''Verticillium leca ...

'' spp. are now marketed as 'Mycotal' (now ''L. muscarium'') and 'Vertalec' (now ''L. longisporum'') by Koppert in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(who provide good illustrations of the fungus). Other products based on these fungi have been developed elsewhere for use in

cash crops A cash crop or profit crop is an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") in subsist ...

oil seeds Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and ...

, ornamentals and vegetables.Copping L.G. (ed.) (2009). ''The Manual of Biocontrol Agents'' 4th Edition. British Crop Production Council (BCPC), Farnham, Surrey UK; 851 pp.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6511477 Biopesticides Cordycipitaceae Fungi described in 2001