The Fungus Beauveria bassiana Alters Amounts of Sterols, Fatty Acids, and Hydroxycinnamic Acids in Potato Solanum tuberosum.

The entomopathogenic endophytic fungus Beauveria bassiana can colonize plants resulting in growth promotion and protection against phytopathogenic microorganisms. However, physiological changes in potato plants (Solanum tuberosum) during this interaction are poorly understood. In the present work, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography were used to analyze sterol, fatty acid, and phenolic acid concentrations in potato plants inoculated with B. bassiana conidia in soil. We showed an increase in amounts of stigmasterol, minor sterol compounds, and some hydroxy fatty acids in leaves after the fungal treatment. Moreover, levels of hydroxycinnamic acids, especially chlorogenic acid, were elevated in roots following the B. bassiana inoculation. We propose that these changes could have been caused by oxidative reactions, and the alterations may have resulted in growth-stimulatory and protective effects of B. bassiana on the plants.

Molecular Identification of a Densovirus in Healthy and Diseased Zophobas morio (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae).

Zophobas morio is a tropical darkling beetle which is widely exploited for commercial large-scale insect growing. Outbreaks of a disease may occur causing total devastation of cultures. In the present paper, samples of diseased Z. morio were obtained and used for establishment of a laboratory model as they were found infective to the larvae of the same insect species from another source. It took about 1 month to develop symptoms of acute disease in mid-age larvae and about twice as much when younger larvae were used for infection. Affected larvae perished quickly, and within several days up to 90-100% of the colony could perish. Both in healthy and diseased larvae a virus was detected using PCR with degenerate primers specific for a gene coding for a non-structural protein (ORF3). The sequenced gene fragment (Genbank accession #MN732869) confirmed allocation of the virus to Densoviridae, with maximal similarity of 97.2% to Blatella germanica densovirus-like virus (#JQ320376) and 66.2% to B. germanica densovirus (#AY189948). Genomic DNA samples of Z. morio larvae from an independent colony devoid of symptoms of a disease were also positive for this virus with a slightly different (99.7% sequence similarity to the former sequence of the Z. morio densovirus) genotype (#MN732870).

Infection of Chorthippus loratus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) with Liebermannia sp. (Microsporidia) in South-Western Russia.

Chorthippus loratus collected in Krasnodar Territory in 2017 was infected at 15% rate with a microsporidium possessing ovocylindrical binucleate spores, 2.6 × 1.2 µm in size. SSU RNA gene typing (Genbank accession # MH396491) showed its allocation to the genus Liebermannia. Degenerate primers based upon largest subunit RNA polymerase II (RPB1) sequences of closest relatives allowed amplifying the respective gene fragment of Liebermannia sp. (# MH396492). The present finding indicates worldwide distribution of the Liebermannia genus and parasitism in hosts with nonoverlapping geographic ranges (representing Neotropical versus Palearctic fauna), while previous observations were restricted to Acridoidea endemic for South America.