Isolation and Characterization of Native Entomopathogenic Fungi and Their Pathogenicity Against Cowpea aphid | ||
| Arab Universities Journal of Agricultural Sciences | ||
| Volume 32, Issue 1, June 2024, Pages 151-160 PDF (512.51 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ajs.2024.267259.1554 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Alyaa mohamed Elsawy* 1; mohamed elzemaity1; Yosra Ahmed2; Walaa Abdelghany1 | ||
| 1Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shoubra 11241, Cairo, Egypt | ||
| 2Plant Quarantine Pathogens Laboratory, Mycology Research & Disease Survey Dept, Plant Pathology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Giza, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The research aimed to isolate and characterize local entomopathogenic fungi from different agricultural ecosystems and assess their pathogenicity against cowpea aphid. Forty soil samples were collected from different ecosystems. In total, 38 fungal isolates were collected from the cadavers' exteriors of Galleria mellonella larvae. Microscopic observation of these fungal isolates revealed that they belonged to nine fungal genera among them Metarhizium sp. (3 isolates) and Beauveria sp. (5 isolates). Primary experiments showed different bioactivities of the isolates of the two selected genera against the target insect. Only Metarhizium isolates (M3 & M5) and Beauveria isolates (B1 & B5) were selected for further investigations. Identification of fungal cultures by morphological characters, molecular characterization, ITS sequencing, and NCBI Blast showed that two isolates were confirmed as M. anisopliae and two isolates as B. bassiana. The bioassay evaluation revealed that M. anisopliae (M3 and M5) and B. bassiana (B1) exhibited significant virulence against A. craccivora, as evidenced by their high LT50 and LC50 values and substantial sporulation on the cadavers. Therefore, they could be used for the formulation of pesticides targeting this pest on cowpea and other vegetable crops. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Aphis craccivora; Beauveria bassiana; Biocontrol; Metarhizium anisopliae; Molecular identification | ||
|
Statistics Article View: 207 PDF Download: 126 |
||
