MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ENDEMIC ISOLATED RS006, BIOCONTROLLER OF Hypothenemus hampei IN PANAMA

Abstract

The control of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei, by the indiscriminate use of synthetic organic insecticides can result in the selection of resistant individuals, the emergence of new pests, environmental contamination and human health problems. For agroecological pest management and epidemiological studies, taxonomic species identification is critical. This is enabled by the use of molecular techniques with high levels of reliability, sensitivity and promptness. This paper is the first report in Panama about Isaria javanica (Friedrichs and Bally) Samson and Hywell-Jones, its activity as a bio controller of the coffee berry borer. The results of the morphological and molecular identification of the obtained isolate from Trialeurodes vaporariorum in nature and RS006b (reisolated from H. hampei in laboratory conditions) are presented. Microscopy of reproductive structures and dichotomous keys were used for morphological identification; the molecular characterization of the isolates were performed by sequencing the ITS region (ITS 1 and 2 including 5.8 S) and comparison with the database GenBank. Both, the obtained sequence from the isolated fungus originally from nature (RS006a) and the obtained isolate killing adult bits in the bioassay biological effectiveness on the coffee berry borer (H. hampei) (RS006b) confirmed that it was the same species: I. javanica with ability to infect adult individuals of the coffe berry borer. These sequences resulted to be identical to the ones from I. javanica culture CBS134.22 (KM234218.1 GenBank accessesion number), the lectotype of the species.