Abstract
The nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA (rDNA), including 5.8S rDNA, were determined for 5 isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae from Japan and Korea in order to analyze their phylogenetic relationships. These sequences were aligned with published sequences of the Metarhizium isolates from different countries. The bootstrapped neighbor-joining tree showed that isolates of Metarhizium species were divided into two major groups (groups I and II). Isolates belonging to M. anisopllae formed a sister group (group I), separate from M. flavoviride and M. album (group II). Isolates of group I were divided into at least 4 subgroups (subgroups I-A, B, C, and D), and Japanese isolates tested belonged to the subgroup I-A.
