Lopez Restrepo Daniel, Kovalchuk Igor
Department of Biological Science, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada.
Plants (Basel). 2025 Mar 16;14(6):931. doi: 10.3390/plants14060931.
The rapid expansion of the cannabis industry in Canada post-legalization has heightened the prevalence of pests, particularly the cannabis aphid (), which poses significant threats to crop health. This study investigates the immediate effects of on () plants and explores biological control strategies utilizing entomopathogenic fungi. Fungal isolates of and were isolated from infected aphids, cultured, and characterized. Infection tests on aphids revealed that both fungi achieved 100% aphid mortality at high conidial concentrations (1 × 10 conidia/mL) by the 10th DAT, with demonstrating better efficacy. In greenhouse trials on three cannabis varieties, effectively controlled aphid populations, keeping levels low and stable in infested plants treated with at the concentration of 1 × 10 conidia mL (I-B) and infested plants treated with insecticide (I-I). Both I-B and I-I treatments maintained aphid populations near zero for nine weeks. In contrast, control plants showed significant aphid growth, with the Perseid variety being the most susceptible, followed by Congo Durban, while GCC exhibited the lowest susceptibility. Cannabinoid and terpene analyses revealed that treatment with insecticide substantially decreased the amount of produced cannabinoids and terpenes. In contrast, -treated plants exhibited higher concentrations of key metabolites, including delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid and cannabidiolic acid, and total terpenes, compared to chemically treated plants, and in two out of three cultivars, these concentrations were higher than in control, untreated plants. The findings highlight as an eco-friendly alternative for pest management that not only controls aphids effectively but also supports the biochemical quality of cannabis plants.
加拿大合法化后大麻产业的迅速扩张增加了害虫的流行率，尤其是大麻蚜虫（），这对作物健康构成了重大威胁。本研究调查了 对 （）植物的直接影响，并探索了利用昆虫病原真菌的生物防治策略。从受感染的蚜虫中分离、培养并鉴定了 和 的真菌分离株。对蚜虫的感染试验表明，在第10天，两种真菌在高分生孢子浓度（1×10分生孢子/mL）下均实现了100%的蚜虫死亡率， 显示出更好的效果。在对三个大麻品种的温室试验中， 在1×10分生孢子 mL（I-B）浓度下处理的受侵染植物和用杀虫剂处理的受侵染植物（I-I）中，有效地控制了蚜虫种群，使蚜虫数量保持在低水平且稳定。I-B和I-I处理在九周内都将蚜虫数量维持在接近零的水平。相比之下，对照植物的蚜虫数量显著增加，仙后座品种最易感，其次是刚果德班，而GCC表现出最低的易感性。大麻素和萜类分析表明，用杀虫剂处理会大幅降低产生的大麻素和萜类的量。相比之下，与化学处理的植物相比， 处理的植物中关键代谢物的浓度更高，包括δ-9-四氢大麻酚酸和大麻二酚酸以及总萜类，在三个品种中的两个品种中，这些浓度高于未处理的对照植物。研究结果突出了 将其作为一种生态友好的害虫管理替代方法，不仅能有效控制蚜虫，还能支持大麻植物的生化质量。
