Isolation and Characterization of Native Entomopathogenic Fungi and Their Pathogenicity Against The Cowpea aphid

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shoubra 11241, Cairo, Egypt

2 Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University

3 Plant Quarantine Pathogens Laboratory, Mycology Research & Disease Survey Department, Plant Pathology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

4 Plant Protection Dept., Fac. Agric., Ain Shams University

Abstract

This research aimed to isolate and characterize local entomopathogenic fungi from different agricultural ecosystems and assess their pathogenicity against the cowpea aphid in Egypt. Forty soil samples were collected from different ecosystems of the country. 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) exhibit 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

Arab Universities Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 11 May 2024

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