Catalogue of the culture collection of symbionts and pathogenic fungal species of insects and other arthropods from Argentina

Abstract

This manuscript seeks to disclose the updated data and relevant information about the entomopathogenic fungi strains preserved at the Center for Parasitological and Vector Studies (CEPAVE) of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council and National University of La Plata (CONICET-UNLP), Argentina. The data provided here is the result of surveys of native isolates from the different phytogeographic regions of Argentina, specified as follows: acronym, substrate, host insect species, collection date, geographic coordinate references, and culture medium in which it was isolated; and the aim is to provide basic information about the organisms preserved in the afore mentioned microorganisms collection. This collection was developed for the purposes of research, teaching and technological associations with companies. It started in 1988, and it is registered in the Latin American Federation of Culture Collections (FELACC) as Institutional Partner: No. SI-06, and in the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) (http://www.wfcc.info/). In accordance with the WFCC guidelines, this collection is incorporated as a partner to the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM, 973 CEP). The preservation methods used are sterile distilled water, paper, mineral oil, silica gel, freezer at -20 and -70 °C and lyophilization, quality and viability controls are carried out. So far, 40 % of the species have been identified by molecular techniques, and the study of the remaining isolated species is under development. The collection consists of more than 684 strains which belong mostly to the Beauveria, Metarhizium, Isaria, Lecanicillium genera, as well as some species of Entomophthorales.