Endophytic establishment of the fungal entomopathogen, Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuil., in cucumber plants

Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control

article

Rajab, Lobna¹  Ahmad, Mohammad¹  Gazal, Ibtisam¹ 

[1] Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University

关键词: Beauveria bassiana;    Endophyte;    Entomopathogenic fungi;    Cucumber plants;    Colonization;    Systemic growth;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41938-020-00344-8

学科分类：化学工程（综合）

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

The fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuil., is one of the most important entomopathogenic fungi (EPFs). Recently, its new role was discovered in nature, to be an endophyte in plants. It has been reported as an endophytic fungus in many monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. The study was conducted to evaluate the ability of the fungus, B. bassiana, to colonize and persist in cucumber plants under laboratory conditions and to detect its systemic growth inside the plant tissues in addition to pathogenicity in the plant. The isolate, B195, of the fungus, B. bassiana, was used. Five different inoculation methods were followed: seed dusting, seed immersion, soil drench, seedling drench, and foliar spray. The fungus, B. bassiana, could persist inside different cucumber tissues up to 90 days from inoculation. Soil drench provided the highest recovery rates, while foliar spray gave the lowest rates. Colonization rates reached 94.44 and 73.68% for stem and 68.26 and 37.79% for root, 30 and 90 days post soil drench, respectively, while in foliar spray, it reached 33.51 and 16.45%, after 30 and 90 days post-treatment, for the stem and 9.45 and 0% for the root, respectively. No negative effects were observed in inoculated plants  or on fungal pathogenicity. Results showed for the first time the ability of the fungus, B. bassiana, isolate B195, to artificially colonize and survive in different parts of cucumber plants under laboratory conditions by different inoculation methods and to grow systemically in plant tissues. This study is considered a preliminary study to the utilization of the fungus, B. bassiana, as an endophyte in cucumber plants to reduce the density of insect pests.

【 授权许可】

CC BY