The genus Metarhizium is composed of entomopathogenic fungal biological control agents (BCAs) used for invertebrate pest control. The phylogenetic relationships of species within this genus are still under scrutiny as several cryptic species can be found. In this work, the mitochondrial (mt) genome of Metarhizium brunneum ARSEF 4556 was fully sequenced and a comparative genome analysis was conducted with 7 other available mt genomes, belonging to 5 Metarhizium species: M. anisopliae, M. brunneum, M. robertsii, M. guizhouense and M. majus. Results showed that Metarhizium demonstrates greater conserved stability than other fungal mt genomes. Furthermore, this analysis located 7 diverse regions in both intergenic domains and gene fragments which were ideal for species/strain discrimination. The sequencing of these regions revealed several SNPs among 38 strains tested, 11 of which were uncharacterized. Single gene phylogenies presented variable results which may be used further for intra-species discrimination. Phylogenetic trees based on the concatenation of mt domains and the nuclear ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region showed discrimination of the species studied and allowed the identification of uncharacterized strains. These were mostly placed within species M. anisopliae and M. brunneum. Five strains clustered together in a clade related to M. brunneum, suggesting that they comprise a cryptic species.

中文翻译：

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线粒体基因组对绿僵菌属物种和菌株的系统发育和鉴定的贡献

绿僵菌属由昆虫病原真菌生物控制剂 (BCA) 组成，用于控制无脊椎动物害虫。该属内物种的系统发育关系仍在审查中，因为可以发现几个隐秘物种。在这项工作中，对绿僵菌 ARSEF 4556 的线粒体 (mt) 基因组进行了完全测序，并与 7 个其他可用的 mt 基因组进行了比较基因组分析，这些基因组属于 5 个绿僵菌物种：绿僵菌属、M. brunneum、M. robertsii、 M. guizhouense 和 M. majus。结果表明绿僵菌比其他真菌 mt 基因组表现出更大的保守稳定性。此外，该分析在基因间域和基因片段中定位了 7 个不同的区域，这些区域是物种/菌株区分的理想选择。这些区域的测序揭示了 38 个测试菌株中的几个 SNP，其中 11 个未表征。单基因系统发育呈现可变结果，可进一步用于种内区分。基于 mt 域和核 ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 区域串联的系统发育树显示出对所研究物种的区分，并允许识别未表征的菌株。这些主要被放置在物种 M. anisopliae 和 M. brunneum 中。五个菌株聚集在一个与 M. brunneum 相关的进化枝中，表明它们包含一个神秘的物种。8S-ITS2 区域显示出对所研究物种的区分，并允许识别未表征的菌株。这些主要被放置在物种 M. anisopliae 和 M. brunneum 中。五个菌株聚集在一个与 M. brunneum 相关的进化枝中，表明它们包含一个神秘的物种。8S-ITS2 区域显示出对所研究物种的区分，并允许识别未表征的菌株。这些主要被放置在物种 M. anisopliae 和 M. brunneum 中。五个菌株聚集在一个与 M. brunneum 相关的进化枝中，表明它们包含一个神秘的物种。