38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology

Beauveria (Cordyceps) bassiana is a broad host range entomopathogenic fungus under intensive study as an arthropod biocontrol agent. Strains of B. bassiana have been selected for directed virulence towards insects and other arthropods that act as agricultural pests, disease vectors, ecologically hazardous, invasive pests, and even household nuisance pests. B. bassiana produces at least three distinct single cell propagules including aerial conidia, in vitro vegetative cells termed blastospores, and microcycle conidia that can be isolated from agar plates, rich broth liquid cultures, and under conditions of nutrient limitation in submerged cultures, respectively. cDNA libraries were constructed from each B .bassiana cell type and a robust expressed sequence tagged (EST) dataset was generated. Additional cDNA libraries from cells sporulating on chitin and producing the secondary metabolite oosporein also contributed to yield a diverse array of transcripts. Approximately 2,000 clones from each library were sequenced and a unique sequence set was constructed. Comparative analysis of the expressed transcripts in each library indicated significant differences in gene expression pattern between the cell types in several broad categories including cell wall biosynthesis, secondary metabolism, and the production of proteases.