| Abstract Detail
Ecology/Pathology Kepler, Ryan [1], Rehner, Stephen [1]. Assessment of Metarhizium community structure in soil ecosystems. Soil habitats exhibit diverse and complex structural variation in physical and chemical properties that directly influence the structure of soil microbial communities. In agroecosystems, cropping and tillage practices heavily influence soil properties, which, presumably, exert an influence on fungal communities. The extent to which communities of entomopathogenic fungi are affected by farming methods remains an open question. Assessing entomopathogen populations in agricultural soils has typically relied on the use of selective media. However, culture-independent methods characterizing soil communities at the molecular level can not only reveal the diversity of entomopathogens, but also place them in the context of the larger community of soil fungi. The current project seeks to test the effects of tillage practices on entomopathogenic fungal communities, as well as to assess and compare various methods available to survey them. Eight soil cores were obtained from each of four replicate plots of no-till, conventional-till and organically managed field plots. For each management type, fields growing corn and soybean were sampled, with an additional sampling of an alfalfa rotation in the organic plots. Sieved soil samples were diluted and plated on each of two selective media containing either the fungicide dodine or the chemically related CTAB, each at three concentrations. Isolates identifiable as Metarhizium were collected, identified and their genetic diversity compared across experimental treatments.
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1 - USDA-ARS, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Bldg 010A, Rm 213, BARC-W, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
Keywords:
none specified
Presentation Type: Offered Paper - Paper
Session: 7
Location: Auditorium/Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
Date: Tuesday, June 10th, 2014
Time: 9:30 AM
Number: 7005
Abstract ID:170
Candidate for Awards:None |
