''Lecanicillium muscarium'' is the approved name of an
entomopathogenic fungus 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, moll ...
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
Cordycipitaceae. It now appears that
isolates 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.'' 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 this name.
This fungus was first described in 1861 and has a worldwide distribution.
Insects are
infected when they come into contact with the sticky fungal
spores which then grow and invade the body, thus the internal organs are consumed, leading to their death. In
horticulture and
agriculture, the ''Lecanicillium'' ''muscarium''
isolate (isolate GCRI 19–79) was first developed by scientists, Drs Richard A Hall and HD Burges at the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute (now Warwick HRI: formerly part of
Horticulture Research International).
Important Isolates
''L. muscarium'' isolate Ve6 (GCRI 19–79; IMI 268317; ARSEF 5128; CBS 102 071) is marketed as 'Mycotal' and has been re-registered in the EU: especially for control of whiteflies such as ''
Trialeurodes vaporariorum'' and
thrips by Koppert in the
Netherlands, who provide good illustrations of the fungus. Commercialisation of the fungus and registration in the UK, in the form of 'Mycotal', was originally through the collaboration of the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute and Tate and Lyle Ltd (UK).
Other products, possibly based on this fungus have been developed elsewhere for use in
cash crops,
oil seeds,
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=Q6511480
Biopesticides
Cordycipitaceae
Fungi described in 2001