PRESENCE OF DOUBLE-STRANDED RNAS AND VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES IN THE ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGUS METARHIZIUM-ANISOPLIAE

Nucleic acids from 41 strains of Metarhizium anisopliae, obtained from different parts of the world were extracted and examined by electrophoresis. Strong bands of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) were detected in two isolates from Brazil, V215 and V291, which had, respectively, 13 and 9 distinct bands ranging in size from ca. 0.75 to 3.5 kb. Icosahedral virus-like particles (VLPs) (ca. 33 nm in diameter) were observed by transmission electron microscopy in extracts of these isolates. The VLPs and dsRNA were both absent from a clone of the isolate V291 which had been subcultured successively on solid medium. Bioassays against the aphid Myzus persicae showed no detectable difference in virulence between the clone of V291 which contained dsRNA and the clone that did not.