Microbial Biopesticides in Agroecosystems

Abstract

Microbial biopesticides include several microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, baculoviruses, and nematode-associated bacteria acting against invertebrate pests in agro-ecosystems. The biopesticide sector is experiencing a significant growth and many discoveries are being developed into new biopesticidal products that are fueling a growing global market offer. Following a few decades of successful use of the entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and a few other microbial species, recent academic and industrial efforts have led to the discovery of new microbial species and strains, and of their specific toxins and virulence factors. Many of these have, therefore, been developed into commercial products. Bacterial entomopathogens include several Bacillaceae, Serratia, Pseudomonas, Yersinia, Burkholderia, Chromobacterium, Streptomyces, and Saccharopolyspora species, while fungi comprise different strains of Beauveria bassiana, B. brongniartii, Metarhizium anisopliae, Verticillium, Lecanicillium, Hirsutella, Paecilomyces, and Isaria species. Baculoviruses are species-specific and refer to niche products active against chewing insects, especially Lepidopteran caterpillars. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) mainly include species in the genera Heterorhabditis and Steinernema associated with mutualistic symbiotic bacteria belonging to the genera Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus. An updated representation of the current knowledge on microbial biopesticides and of the availability of active substances that can be used in integrated pest management programs in agro-ecosystems is reported here.

Peer Review #1 of "Dynamics of soil properties and fungal community structure in continuous-cropped alfalfa fields in Northeast China (v0.1)"

“…This result was consistent with that in a previous study by Mackie et al (1999), who stated that dry conditions could restrict the expression of fungal disease, in view of the many species in the genus Paecilomyces that are pathogens (Israel et al, 2018;Piekarska, Trusz & Szczesniak, 2018). Meanwhile, some species of this genus were demonstrated as biocontrol agents, such as Paecilomyces lilacinus (Wei et al, 2015;Abd-Elgawad & Askary, 2018) and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus (Ruiu, 2018).…”

Agricultural Practice in Poland Before and After Mandatory IPM Implementation by the European Union

“…Currently, IPM is the main paradigm in plant production approved by scientists, policymakers, international development agencies [6] and public opinion [7]. In recent years, new regulations in Europe have forced farmers to use methods other than chemical protection [8] that are more environmentally friendly [9,10].…”

Putative Role of a Yet Uncharacterized Protein Elicitor PeBb1 Derived from Beauveria bassiana ARSEF 2860 Strain against Myzus persicae (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis

“…Increasing ill-effects being manifested by the conventional synthetic insecticides necessitate looking for the alternate biorational pest control tactics such as microbial biopesticides [5]. Many microbes including entomopathogenic fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes have shown effectiveness against a large number of insect pest species [6,7]. With more than 750 species worldwide, entomopathogenic fungi provide a promising potential for biological control of insect pests.…”