Insects (2021) 12 (12 - 1077)

Rostislav Zemek, Jana Konopická, Eva Jozová and Oxana Skoková Habustová (2021)
Virulence of Beauveria bassiana strains isolated from cadavers of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Insects 12 (12 - 1077)
Abstract: The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), is a serious, widely distributed pest of potato and other crops. This pest is able to defoliate the host plant and cause severe yield loss. Moreover, the pest quickly becomes resistant to many chemical pesticides. Therefore, the development of novel biopesticides targeting this pest is urgently needed. The purpose of this study was to obtain new strains of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana and assess their efficacy against L. decemlineata adults under laboratory conditions. Twelve strains were isolated from cadavers of Colorado potato beetles collected in potato fields in the Czech Republic. Test beetles were treated by suspensions of conidia at the concentration of 1 × 10⁷ spores per milliliter and their survival was recorded daily for three weeks. The results of the bioassays revealed that all new native strains were pathogenic to L. decemlineata adults and caused mortality up to 100% at the end of the trial period with an LT₅₀ of about 7 days. These strains were more virulent than a reference strain GHA and some of them can be recommended for the development of a new mycoinsecticide against L. decemlineata. Our findings also highlight the importance of searching for perspective strains of entomopathogenic fungi among naturally infected hosts.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
(original language: English)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Rostislav Zemek, Oxana Habustová

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Leptinotarsa decemlineata	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)	Czech Republic
Beauveria bassiana (entomopathogen)	Leptinotarsa decemlineata	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)	Czech Republic