Allelic variation of a Beauveria bassiana (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) minisatellite is independent of host range and geographic origin.

The minisatellite locus, BbMin1, was isolated from a partial Beauveria bassiana genomic library that consisted of poly(GA) flanked inserts. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the BbMin1 repeat demonstrated allele size variation among 95 B. bassiana isolates. Amplification was also observed from single isolates of Beauveria amorpha, Beauveria brongniartii, and Beauveria caledonica. Eight alleles were identified at the haploid locus, where repeat number fluctuated between one and fourteen. AMOVA and theta (Fst) indicated that fixation of repeat number has not occurred within pathogenic ecotypes or geographically isolated samples of B. bassiana. Selective neutrality of allele size, the rate of BbMin1 mutation, and the age of the species may contribute to host and geographic independence of the marker. Presence of alleles with a large number of repeat units may be attributed to the rare occurrence of somatic recombination or DNA replication error. The molecular genetic marker was useful for the identification of genetic types of B. bassiana and related species.