Thiago Souza Bulhões, Paula Leite Dos Santos, Bruno Felipe Prado de Melo, Vanessa Rafaela de Carvalho, Bianca Cristina Costa Gêa, Maria Márcia Pereira Sartori, Gabriel Moura Mascarin, Carlos Frederico Wilcken
{"title":"Production of Entomopathogenic Fungi and Pathogenicity of Metarhizium anisopliae against Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae).","authors":"Thiago Souza Bulhões, Paula Leite Dos Santos, Bruno Felipe Prado de Melo, Vanessa Rafaela de Carvalho, Bianca Cristina Costa Gêa, Maria Márcia Pereira Sartori, Gabriel Moura Mascarin, Carlos Frederico Wilcken","doi":"10.1093/jambio/lxag236","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>To address the severe defoliation caused by the invasive bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae), this study investigated the mass production potential of three entomopathogenic fungal (EPF) strains and the specific biocontrol efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae against this pest.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>Initially, Cordyceps javanica (LCBPF 11), M. anisopliae (LCBPF 31), and Beauveria bassiana (LCBPF 46) produced > 1 × 10⁹ conidia g⁻¹ in solid-state fermentation. To scale production, liquid culture was selected for C. javanica and M. anisopliae using industrial by-products (corn flour and molasses), while M. anisopliae was further compared in a rice flour-dextrose-yeast extract (M1) medium. Fitness assays revealed that while M. anisopliae blastospores (M1) were more heat-susceptible at 45°C (LT50 0.182 h) than aerial conidia (LT50 1.621 h), survival analysis of bioassays against T. peregrinus adults revealed highly significant differences among treatments. Remarkably, all M. anisopliae propagules achieved 100% mortality within 5 days, with blastospores produced in M1 medium reaching an LT50 of only 1.81 days. Furthermore, Cox proportional hazards modeling confirmed that these optimized blastospores (M1) presented a mortality risk 2.51 times higher than the commercial standard Metarril® based on aerial conidia (Hazard Ratio = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.90-3.31).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of M. anisopliae blastospores successfully infecting T. peregrinus. Taken altogether, these findings demonstrate the technical feasibility and significant potential of these rapid-acting infective propagules for the management of this forest pest.</p>","PeriodicalId":15036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Applied Microbiology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jambio/lxag236","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aims: To address the severe defoliation caused by the invasive bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae), this study investigated the mass production potential of three entomopathogenic fungal (EPF) strains and the specific biocontrol efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae against this pest.
Methods and results: Initially, Cordyceps javanica (LCBPF 11), M. anisopliae (LCBPF 31), and Beauveria bassiana (LCBPF 46) produced > 1 × 10⁹ conidia g⁻¹ in solid-state fermentation. To scale production, liquid culture was selected for C. javanica and M. anisopliae using industrial by-products (corn flour and molasses), while M. anisopliae was further compared in a rice flour-dextrose-yeast extract (M1) medium. Fitness assays revealed that while M. anisopliae blastospores (M1) were more heat-susceptible at 45°C (LT50 0.182 h) than aerial conidia (LT50 1.621 h), survival analysis of bioassays against T. peregrinus adults revealed highly significant differences among treatments. Remarkably, all M. anisopliae propagules achieved 100% mortality within 5 days, with blastospores produced in M1 medium reaching an LT50 of only 1.81 days. Furthermore, Cox proportional hazards modeling confirmed that these optimized blastospores (M1) presented a mortality risk 2.51 times higher than the commercial standard Metarril® based on aerial conidia (Hazard Ratio = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.90-3.31).
Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of M. anisopliae blastospores successfully infecting T. peregrinus. Taken altogether, these findings demonstrate the technical feasibility and significant potential of these rapid-acting infective propagules for the management of this forest pest.
期刊介绍：
Journal of & Letters in Applied Microbiology are two of the flagship research journals of the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM). For more than 75 years they have been publishing top quality research and reviews in the broad field of applied microbiology. The journals are provided to all SfAM members as well as having a global online readership totalling more than 500,000 downloads per year in more than 200 countries. Submitting authors can expect fast decision and publication times, averaging 33 days to first decision and 34 days from acceptance to online publication. There are no page charges.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
