Nosema maddoxi sp. nov. (Microsporidia, Nosematidae), a Widespread Pathogen of the Green Stink Bug Chinavia hilaris (Say) and the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Halyomorpha halys (Stål).

We describe a unique microsporidian species that infects the green stink bug, Chinavia hilaris; the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys; the brown stink bug, Euschistus servus; and the dusky stink bug, Euschistus tristigmus. All life stages are unikaryotic, but analysis of the consensus small subunit region of the ribosomal gene places this microsporidium in the genus Nosema, which historically has been characterized by diplokaryotic life stages. It is also characterized by having the reversed arrangement of the ribosomal gene (LSU -ITS- SSU) found in species within the "true Nosema" clade.

Physiological host specificity: a model using the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) and microsporidia of row crop and other stalk-boring hosts.

We investigated vertical and horizontal transmission as means by which entomopathogenic microsporidia may be isolated in their hosts. Ostrinia nubilalis larvae were challenged with microsporidia isolated from other stalk-boring and row crop Lepidoptera and were susceptible to seven species. Two species were horizontally transmitted.

Interactions between an entomopathogenic microsporidium and the endoparasitoid Glyptapanteles liparidis within their host, the gypsy moth larva.

Interactions in the host-parasitoid-pathogen system, Lymantria dispar L. (Lep., Lymantriidae)-Glyptapanteles liparidis (Bouché) (Hym.

Nosema portugal, N. SP., isolated from gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar L.) collected in portugal.

A microsporidium Nosema portugal n. sp. was isolated from gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar L, collected near Lisbon, Portugal, in 1985.

Timing of an early sporulation sequence of microsporidia in the genus vairimorpha (Microsporidia: burenellidae).

An early sporulation event in the host midgut tissues has been reported for several species of microsporidia infecting Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera. The role of these primary spores, formed between 35 and 96 h postinfection per os, has been suggested to be the cell to cell spread of infection within the host, but the sequence of events during the early sporulation stages has been reported for only a few species of microsporidia. We investigated these early life cycle events for two species of microsporidia, Vairimorpha necatrix and Vairimorpha sp.

Interactions between a Nosema sp. (Microspora: nosematidae) and nuclear polyhedrosis virus infecting the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (Lepidoptera: lymantriidae).

Simultaneous and sequential per os inoculations of gypsy moth larvae with the Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus (LdNPV) and a Nosema sp. from Portugal demonstrated that the interaction of two pathogens during coinfection was variable, ranging from synergistic to antagonistic. Susceptibility of gypsy moth larvae to viral infection was unaffected by simultaneous and subsequent microsporidian infection.

Physiological host specificity of microsporidia as an indicator of ecological host specificity.

For most groups of biological control agents the relationship between laboratory (physiological) host range and the host range in the field (ecological host range) has not been explored empirically. The objective of our study was to investigate this relationship using the North America gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, as a model nontarget host for microsporidia from native North American Lepidoptera. The gypsy moth, L.

Phylogenetic position of Amblyospora Hazard & Oldacre (Microspora:Amblyosporidae) based on small subunit rRNA data and its implication for the evolution of the microsporidia.

Sequences of the small subunit rRNA genes of Amblvospora california and an Amblyospora sp. from Culex salinarius were determined. These sequences were compared phylogenetically with 16 other microsporidia.

Host Specificity of Microsporidia (Protista: Microspora) from European Populations of Lymantria dispar (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) to Indigenous North American Lepidoptera.

Results of traditional laboratory bioassays may not accurately represent ecological (field) host specificity of entomopathogens but, if carefully interpreted, may be used to predict the ecological host specificity of pathogens being considered for release as classical biological control agents. We conducted laboratory studies designed to evaluate the physiological host specificity of microsporidia, which are common protozoan pathogens of insects. In these studies, 49 nontarget lepidopteran species indigenous to North America were fed five biotypes of microsporidia that occur in European populations of Lymantria dispar but are not found in North American populations of L.

Small subunit ribosomal DNA phylogeny of various microsporidia with emphasis on AIDS related forms.

Phylogenetic analysis of the small subunit ribosomal DNA of a broad range of representative microsporidia including five species from humans (Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Nosema corneum, Septata intestinalis, Encephalitozoon hellem and Encephalitozoon cuniculi), reveals that human microsporidia are polyphyletic in origin. Septata intestinalis and E. hellem are very similar to the mammalian parasite E.

Phylogenetic relationships among Vairimorpha and Nosema species (Microspora) based on ribosomal RNA sequence data.

A portion (approximately 350 nucleotides) of the large subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA) 5' to the 580 region (Escherichia coli numbering) was sequenced using the reverse transcriptase dideoxy method and compared for several species of Nosema and Vairimorpha. Comparison among Nosema species suggests that this genus is composed of several unrelated groups. The group which includes the type species, Nosema bombycis, consists of closely related species found primarily in Lepidoptera.

Use of cellular fatty acid analysis to characterize commercial brands of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis.

The cellular fatty acid composition of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (B.t.

Effects of Ascogregarina barretti (Eugregarinida: Lecudinidae) infection on Aedes triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Illinois.

Ascogregarina barretti (Vavra), a gregarine protozoan parasite, infected 23.6 and 5.0% of Aedes triseriatus (Say) adults that emerged from pupae collected from an east-central Illinois tire dump in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

Ribosomal RNA sequence suggests microsporidia are extremely ancient eukaryotes.

The microsporidia are a group of unusual, obligately parasitic protists that infect a great variety of other eukaryotes, including vertebrates, arthropods, molluscs, annelids, nematodes, cnidaria and even various ciliates, myxosporidia and gregarines. They possess a number of unusual cytological and molecular characteristics. Their nuclear division is considered to be primitive, they have no mitochondria, their ribosomes and ribosomal RNAs are reported to be of prokaryotic size and their large ribosomal subunit contains no 5.