Endophytic fungi protect tomato and nightshade plants against Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) through a hidden friendship and cryptic battle

Abstract

Endophytic fungi live within plant tissues without causing any harm to the host, promote its growth, and induce systemic resistance against pests and diseases. To mitigate the challenging concealed feeding behavior of immature stages of Tuta absoluta in both tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and nightshade (Solanum scabrum) host plants, 15 fungal isolates were assessed for their endophytic and insecticidal properties. Twelve isolates were endophytic to both host plants with varied colonization rates. Host plants endophytically-colonized by Trichoderma asperellum M2RT4, Beauveria bassiana ICIPE 706 and Hypocrea lixii F3ST1 outperformed all the other isolates in reducing significantly the number of eggs laid, mines developed, pupae formed and adults emerged. Furthermore, the survival of exposed adults and F1 progeny was significantly reduced by Trichoderma sp. F2L41 and B. bassiana isolates ICIPE 35(4) and ICIPE 35(15) compared to other isolates. The results indicate that T. asperellum M2RT4, B. bassiana ICIPE 706 and H. lixii F3ST1 have high potential to be developed as endophytic-fungal-based biopesticide for the management of T. absoluta.

Evaluation of Bio-Pesticides against the South American Tomato Leaf Miner, Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in India

“…Similarly, temperatures above 36 • C did not support the growth of B. bassiana. The maximum temperature recorded during the entire experimental period of the current study was 34 • C, during the month of May, with low relative humidity, which was conducive for the fungal growth [63]. Thus, B. bassiana was found to be an effective bio-pesticide for managing T. absoluta on tomato in Andhra Pradesh conditions, as well as in other locations in India that have similar agro-climatic conditions.…”

Endophytic Colonisation of Solanum lycopersicum and Phaseolus vulgaris by Fungal Endophytes Promotes Seedlings Growth and Hampers the Reproductive Traits, Development, and Survival of the Greenhouse Whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum

“…Similar studies have also shown the negative systemic effects of endophytes on different life parameters of several insects. H. lixii F3ST1 caused the lower pupation, emergence, and survival of L. huidobrensis in Vicia faba (Akutse et al, 2013), reduced the oviposition and mining activity of T. absoluta in both S. scabrum and S. lycopersicum (Agbessenou et al, 2020), and reduced the feeding and oviposition of Thrips tabaci (Lindeman) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in Allium cepa (Muvea et al, 2014). Trichoderma asperellum M2RT4 is also reported to have a negative effect on the development and reproduction of Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Homoptera: Aphididae) in V. faba (Akello and Sikora, 2012), while S. lycopersicum inoculated with B. bassiana caused the lower oviposition and feeding by B. tabaci (Wei et al, 2020).…”

“…The survival analysis based on the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method was used to determine the survival probability functions of the adults and progeny exposed to different fungal treatments and controls. The survival function curves for different fungal treatments and the controls were compared using the log-rank test (Agbessenou et al, 2020). The plant height, leaf length, leaf width, and shoot weight were analysed using ANOVA, and the differences in means were separated using the Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) test.…”

“…Endophytes stimulate the synthesis of secondary metabolites such as terpenoids, phenols, and phytoalexins volatile oils which confer resistance to several insects, resulting in the deterrence of feeding, oviposition, stem boring, sap sucking, and leaf mining by pests (Gao et al, 2011;Kambrekar, 2016;Agbessenou et al, 2020). The systemic effect of endophytes against insects has been shown in several other insects including diamondback moth [Plutella xylostella (L.)] (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) (Batta, 2013;Sun et al, 2018), Silverleaf whitefly (B. tabaci) (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) (Garrido-Jurado et al, 2017), pea leafminer (Liriomyza huidobrensis) (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) (Akutse et al, 2013), tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta) (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) (Klieber and Reineke, 2016;Agbessenou et al, 2020), cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) (Glover) (Homoptera: Aphididae) (Lopez et al, 2014), mealybugs (Planococcus ficus) (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) (Rondot and Reineke, 2018), and spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) (Koch) (Acari: Tetranychidae) (Pappas et al, 2018). Another additional benefit from some endophytes is their potential to promote plant growth (Mayerhofer et al, 2013;Hassan, 2017;Bamisile et al, 2018aBamisile et al, ,b, 2020Russo et al, 2019).…”

Meta-analysis cum machine learning approaches address the structure and biogeochemical potential of marine copepod associated bacteriobiomes

“…Bacterial taxa like Colwelliaceae 10 , 63 Flavobacterium, Arthrobacter, Serratia, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Vibrio 64 , Pseudoalteromonas 63 and Achromobacter 65 produce chitinase. The presence of chitinase gene in CAB is unsurprising, as their foregut and hindgut are both made up of chitin 11 .…”