The genetic diversity of 41 Ecuadorian entomopathogenic fungal strains plus one isolate from the USA, from a collection maintained by INIAP (Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias) was determined using a modified AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism) approach. We found genetic similarity indexes lower than 0.50 and 121 polymorphic bands. The AMOVA analysis revealed that between-group and within-group variation contributed in similar amounts (59% and 41%, respectively) to the whole genetic variation detected. The dendrogram built using Jaccard's genetic coefficient shows twelve groups, where seven of them contain isolates clustered by genus. From these seven groups, five of them contain isolates clustered by the host from which they were recovered. The Bootstrap values show twelve reliable phylogenetic relations with values higher than 70% of confidence. The Principal Components Analysis (PCA) produced six clusters; four of them contain isolates associated by genus. The results suggest the existence of a considerable genetic diversity within the INIAP's entopathogenic fungi collection, and a clustering tendency related to the host from which they were isolated. We did not find common genomic regions among the most virulent entomopathogenic fungi strains. The high genetic diversity found within this collection represents a potential source of genotypes with potent bioinsecticide activity.
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