Purpureocillium
Paecillium Luangsa-ard, Hywel-Jones & Samson nom. prov. (2007)[2]
Penicillium lilacinum Thom (1910)
Penicillium amethystinum Wehmer (1923)
Spicaria rubidopurpurea Aoki (1941)Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson (1974)
Purpureocillium is a fungal genus in the Ophiocordycipitaceae family. The genus now contains at least 5 species with the type species Purpureocillium lilacinum, a common saprobic, filamentous fungus.[3] It has been isolated from a wide range of habitats, including cultivated and uncultivated soils, forests, grassland, deserts, estuarine sediments and sewage sludge, and insects. It has also been found in nematode eggs, and occasionally from females of root-knot and cyst nematodes. In addition, it has frequently been detected in the rhizosphere of many crops. The species can grow at a wide range of temperatures – from 8 to 38 °C (46 to 100 °F) for a few isolates, with optimal growth in the range 26 to 30 °C (79 to 86 °F). It also has a wide pH tolerance and can grow on a variety of substrates.[4][5] P. lilacinum has shown promising results for use as a biocontrol agent to control the growth of destructive root-knot nematodes.
P. lilacinum was previously considered to be monotypic and was classified with the Fungi Imperfecti or Deuteromycetes, fungi for which perfect (i.e., sexually reproducing) states have rarely been found. "Paecilomyces lilacinus" was classified in the section Isarioidea, for which perfect states had not been found. Many isolates of P. lilacinum have been identified from around the world and it is accepted that variation exists within the species. Phylogenetic analysis of P. lilacinum isolates show that it is not related to Trichoderma, Gliocladium and Hypocrea and more related to entomopathogenic genera such as Hirsutella and Ophiocordyceps in the Hypocreales.[6]
