title: Detection of Ophiocordyceps sinensis in the roots of plants in alpine meadows by nested-touchdown polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Ophiocordyceps sinensis, one of the most important income sources of rural Tibetan families, is an entomopathogenic fungus that parasitizes the ghost moth Thitarodes larvae, which live in alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas. The annual yield of O. sinensis has gradually declined in recent years. However, there is no effective method to sustain or increase the yield of O. sinensis artificially because the life cycle of the O. sinensis anamorph remains unclear. Here we detected O. sinensis in alpine plant roots by nested-touchdown polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Forty-two alpine plant species were screened. The roots from 23 alpine plant species (54.76%) tested positive including 13 families and 18 genera. The detection results indicate that O. sinensis is present in the plant roots during the anamorph life cycle, to deal with harsh conditions in alpine habitats and have an increased opportunity to infect the larvae. The finding provides new information regarding the biology and ecology of O. sinensis that may be used to sustain this valuable resource.
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Qing-yun
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Song
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Xia
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Gu-Ren
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Life Sciences, Food and Health Engineering Research Center of State Education Ministry, Guangzhou 510275, China. Electronic address: lsslx@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006999:Hypocreales / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018609:Tibet; D065929:Tundra
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Anamorph life cycle; Chinese caterpillar fungus; Entomopathogen; Psychrophyte; Rhizosphere