First record of Ophiocordyceps dipterigena (Ascomycota: Hypocreales: Ophiocordycipitaceae) infecting adults of Melanagromyza sojae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in Brazil

Abstract

This note is the first report on the infection of adult stage of Melanagromyza sojae Zehntner, 1900 (Diptera: Agromyzidae) by the entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps dipterigena (Hypocreales: Ophiocordycipitaceae) (Berk. & Broome) G. H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, in subtropical Brazil. Entomopathogenic fungi, which attack dipteran insects, are of great scientific and economic importance mainly due to their potential as biological control agents of insect pests. Our findings bring new perspectives on the geographical distribution and host range of Ophiocordyceps dipterigena. We emphasize the need of further studies and research on new biological control agents of agricultural pests such as the soybean stem miner fly.

Potential distribution of Melanagromyza sojae in South America and current situation in Argentina

“…This enables specialists and producers to prioritize suitable areas, which become important due to the lack of knowledge about the dispersal dynamics and agronomic management of this insect. The damage of M. sojae in the early stages of soybean crops can be lethal and the decision to use a seed treatment (Curioletti et al, 2018), together with cultural (Tripathi & Tiwari, 2004; Capinera, 2005) and biological strategies, such as the release of parasitoids in these highly suitable sites (Jayappa et al, 2002; Salgado‐Neto et al, 2018), may be some of the few alternatives to reduce the population incidence of the species and avoid serious damage, as traditional applications of foliar insecticides are commonly ineffective when they act in isolation (Curioletti et al, 2018). This management can become even more complex if we consider the current trend of using service or cover crops, which increase the surface with plant species that could serve as a reservoir for M. sojae .…”

Aislamiento de ADN de alta calidad en Psidium guajava L. para estudios genómicos

“…Con el fin de contrarrestar estos problemas durante el aislamiento del ADN genómico de especies vegetales, se han diseñado kits de extracción de ácidos nucleicos especializados en este tipo de tejidos como el "DNeasy Plant Mini Kit" de la empresa Qiagen, el cual se ha utilizado en extracciones de ADN de plantas como Zea mays (Abdel-Latif & Osman, 2017), Stevia rebaudiana Bert (Lata et al, 2012), Cupressus sempervirens L. (Doulis et al, 1999) y Arabidopsis thaliana y Brassica rapa (Strehle et al, 2018), con buenos resultados. Otro kit similar es el "ReliaPrep™ gDNA Tissue Miniprep Kit", el cual no fue diseñado especialmente para plantas, pero autores como Leonel et al (2020) y Salgado et al (2018), han reportado su uso en el aislamiento de ADN de tejidos de insectos, los cuales se caracterizan por su alto contenido del polisacárido quitina. Estos kits comerciales poseen columnas con membranas de sílica que permiten una alta purificación del material genómico aislado en tejidos que poseen contaminantes como los mencionados anteriormente.…”