Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization/Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ambiente e Sociedade (PPGAS), Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG), Quirinópolis, Goiás 75860-000, Brazil.
J Insect Sci. 2023 Mar 1;23(2). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/iead008.
Fusarium concentricum Nirenberg & O' Donnell (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) is a fungal species known to infect plants, but never reported as entomopathogenic. Polychrosis cunninhamiacola Liu et Pei (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutinae) is a major and widespread insect pest causing economic losses to cultivated Chinese fir Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. It is routinely controlled by extensive use of chemical insecticides, which is perceived as environmentally unsustainable. During March and April of 2019-2020, muscardine cadavers of larvae and pupae of P. cunninhamiacola infected with growing fungus were collected in a fir forest in northern Guangdong Province, China. Conidia were isolated and cultured on PDA medium, from which the fungal strain was identified as F. concentricum FCPC-L01 by morphology and by sequence alignment match with Tef-1α gene. Pathogenicity bioassays at the conidial concentration 1 × 107 revealed P. cunninhamiacola adults and Danaus chrysippus (L.) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) larvae are sensitive to the fungal infection, but not the fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). We believe results indicate this fungal strain might be applicable against specific target insect pests. As this is the first record of a natural infection caused by F. concentricum in insects, we propose host specificity tests should be done to evaluate its potential as a biocontrol agent.
尖孢镰刀菌 Nirenberg & O'Donnell（子囊菌门：Hypocreales）是一种已知感染植物的真菌，但从未有报道称其具有昆虫病原性。卷叶蛾 Polychrosis cunninhamiacola Liu et Pei（鳞翅目：Tortricidae：Olethreutinae）是一种主要的、广泛分布的昆虫害虫，对人工种植的杉木 Cunninghamia lanceolata（Lamb.）Hook 造成经济损失。它通常通过广泛使用化学杀虫剂来控制，但这种方法被认为对环境不可持续。2019 年 3 月至 4 月，在中国广东省北部的一片冷杉林中收集到受感染真菌生长的卷叶蛾幼虫和蛹的蕈状菌尸体。从这些尸体上分离并在 PDA 培养基上培养出分生孢子，通过形态学和与 Tef-1α 基因序列比对，鉴定该真菌菌株为 F. concentricum FCPC-L01。在 1×107 分生孢子浓度下进行的致病性生物测定表明，卷叶蛾成虫和 Danaus chrysippus（L.）（鳞翅目：Nymphalidae）幼虫对真菌感染敏感，但红火蚁 Solenopsis invicta Buren（膜翅目：Formicidae）不敏感。我们认为，结果表明该真菌菌株可能适用于特定的靶标昆虫害虫。由于这是首次记录昆虫中由 F. concentricum 引起的自然感染，我们建议进行宿主特异性测试，以评估其作为生物防治剂的潜力。
