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Insects
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Control of Insect Pests using Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF) and Their...
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Control of Insect Pests using Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF) and Their Bioactive Compounds

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 15015

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Enrique Quesada Moraga

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad de Córdoba, ETSIAM, Campus Rabanales, Edificio C4 Celestino Mutis, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: entomopathogenic fungi (EPF); endophytic EPF; bioactive compounds; diversity; ecology; Beauveria; Metarhizium; soil treatments; seed dressing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agricultural sustainability requires progressively replacing synthetic chemical insecticides by more environmentally friendly pest control measures in order to guarantee food safety and food security. Microbial control is one of these alternatives, and among entomopathogenic microorganisms, entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), due to their natural presence and mode of action by contact, together with their new ecological roles as rhizosphere competent and endophytic microorganisms, show high potential for IPM. These fungi secrete in vitro and in vivo different low molecular weight and macromolecular compounds that sometimes are virulence factors, which are required for disease symptoms, and contribute to inactivate the host defenses, being key targets for improving virulence and developing more effective fungal strains. In addition, these compounds are also considered to be an unexplored source of new insecticidal compounds of natural origin. Besides, different bioactive compounds secreted by EPF has also been shown to posse other bioactivities such as fungicidal, nematicide, elicitor-like etc. This special issue will present the latest research on the use of entomopathogenic fungi for pest control, with emphasis in the use of EPF and their secreted compounds in crop protection and crop production. The issue also aims to focus on recent research on the role of these compounds on the virulence of EPF and on their new roles of EPF as rhizosphere competent and endophytic fungi. Finally, research on secondary metabolites secreted by EPF for risk assessment and registration requirements is welcome.

Prof. Dr. Enrique Quesada Moraga
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Beauveria
  • Metarhizium
  • Isaria
  • secondary metabolites
  • fungal proteins
  • virulence factors
  • bioactive natural compounds
  • risk assessment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 5848 KiB  
Article
Beauveria bassiana Multifunction as an Endophyte: Growth Promotion and Biologic Control of Trialeurodes vaporariorum, (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Tomato
by Lorena Barra-Bucarei, Macarena Gerding González, Andrés France Iglesias, Gonzalo Silva Aguayo, Matías Guerra Peñalosa and Pedro Vergara Vera
Insects 2020, 11(9), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11090591 - 2 Sep 2020
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 6393
Abstract
The tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. is one of the most consumed vegetables in the world; nevertheless, it is affected by biotic and abiotic factors that reduce its productivity. The whitefly is globally considered as the main pest under protected crop conditions, where biologic [...] Read more.
The tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. is one of the most consumed vegetables in the world; nevertheless, it is affected by biotic and abiotic factors that reduce its productivity. The whitefly is globally considered as the main pest under protected crop conditions, where biologic control using endophytic fungi emerges as a sustainable alternative. We evaluated the indirect effects of five native endophytic strains of Beauveria bassiana on the reproduction of greenhouse whiteflies and the growth of tomatoes. The plant growth substrate was inoculated with five strains of this endophyte and the resulting plants were then exposed to whiteflies afterwards. The effect that endophytic strains had on phosphate solubilization, iron siderophore production, plant height, and plant biomass were evaluated. The evaluated endophytes reduced the number of eggs per cm2 on leaflets compared to the control and behaved similarly to the commercial synthetic insecticide. Leaflets inoculated with strains RGM-557, RGM-644 and RGM-731 showed fewer nymphs than the control and those treated with insecticide. RGM-557 and RGM-731 produced the greatest plant heights; RGM-731 obtained the greatest plant biomass. Our study provides evidence that native endophytic strains of B. bassiana have a biocontrol effect on whiteflies and could be used to promote tomato growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control of Insect Pests using Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF) and Their Bioactive Compounds)
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11 pages, 1659 KiB  
Article
Delving into the Causes and Effects of Entomopathogenic Endophytic Metarhizium brunneum Foliar Application-Related Mortality in Spodoptera littoralis Larvae
by Inmaculada Garrido-Jurado, David Montes-Moreno, Pilar Sanz-Barrionuevo and Enrique Quesada-Moraga
Insects 2020, 11(7), 429; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11070429 - 9 Jul 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3532
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to delve into the causes of mortality of Spodoptera littoralis larvae feeding on Metarhizium-colonized plants in the absence of fungal outgrowth on the cadavers as previous studies reported and to elucidate the possible indirect effects [...] Read more.
The aim of the current study was to delve into the causes of mortality of Spodoptera littoralis larvae feeding on Metarhizium-colonized plants in the absence of fungal outgrowth on the cadavers as previous studies reported and to elucidate the possible indirect effects of this fungus-colonized diet. The effect was evaluated in experiments conducted using leaf discs of colonized plants and in planta using fungus-colonized whole plants. The mortality rates of larvae fed on Metarhizium-colonized melon leaves were 45.0% and 87.5%, and the average survival times were 6.6 and 3.1 days in experiments performed with discs and in planta, respectively. Notably, these mortality levels were not associated with observed apoptosis mediated by caspases 1, 3-7 and 8; thus, further investigation into the possible immune system reaction of the insect after the ingestion of colonized plants is required. The leaf consumption of S. littoralis larvae fed on melon-colonized leaves was lower than that on control plants in the disc experiments but not in experiments conducted in planta. In this regard, in experiments performed in planta, plant damage increased larval mortality in both fungally challenged and control larvae. There was also a meaningful effect of exposure to Metarhizium-colonized melon leaf discs on S. littoralis fitness, with significant reductions in 39.0% and 22.0% in female fecundity and egg fertility, respectively, detected in females emerging from pupae developing from larvae surviving exposure to colonized plant discs; all larvae died in the in planta experiments. Hence, the present work presents new findings revealing the high potential of endophytic entomopathogenic fungi to improve the outcome of foliar applications against chewing insects in the short, mid- and long term, by the reduction of the reproductive potential of surviving adults and reveals new insights into the development of bioassays with whole plants for more detailed evaluation of the impact of these fungi as endophytes used for plant protection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control of Insect Pests using Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF) and Their Bioactive Compounds)
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15 pages, 7833 KiB  
Article
Interactions of Metarhizium brunneum-7 with Phytophagous Mites Following Different Application Strategies
by Dana Ment, Sukirtha Raman, Shira Gal, David Ezra and Eric Palevsky
Insects 2020, 11(6), 330; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11060330 - 28 May 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4182
Abstract
Metarhizium brunneum is a generalist entomopathogenic fungus known to be virulent against Acari. We investigated Metarhizium brunneum-7 (Mb7) interactions in three systems of phytophagous mites and their respective plant hosts: Volkamer lemon (Citrus volkameriana) and the citrus rust mite Phyllocoptruta [...] Read more.
Metarhizium brunneum is a generalist entomopathogenic fungus known to be virulent against Acari. We investigated Metarhizium brunneum-7 (Mb7) interactions in three systems of phytophagous mites and their respective plant hosts: Volkamer lemon (Citrus volkameriana) and the citrus rust mite Phyllocoptruta oleivora; common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae; and spring onion (Allium cepa) and the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini. All three mite species were susceptible to directly applied Mb7 conidia. Results obtained using the standard method for studying endophytic colonization vs. live confocal imaging of plant tissues using the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transformed fungus differed markedly, demonstrating that microscopy validation was more definite than the standard process of recovery from plant tissue. Endophytic colonization was observed in conidium-infiltrated citrus leaves and in roots of onion plants treated with soil-drenched conidia, but not in common bean treated by either spray or drench of conidia. Endophytic colonization of citrus leaves did not affect the citrus mite population. Drench application in common bean reduced two-spotted mite population. Similarly, drench application in onion reduced bulb mite population. This study emphasizes the importance of the host plant effects on Mb7 control efficacy of mite pests, and the merits of live-imaging techniques in studying endophytic interaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control of Insect Pests using Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF) and Their Bioactive Compounds)
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