Biosynthesises of Silver Nanoparticles of Beauveria bassiana and its Effect on Potato Tuber Moth (Zeller) Phthorimaea opercullella Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae

Abstract

The study was conducted at the Atomic Energy Laboratory, plant Control Department / Baghdad for the year 2020-2021. The study aimed to synthesis of silver nanoparticles from Beauveria bassiana to control potato tuber moth Phthorimaea opercullella. The results showed the formation of silver nanoparticles of the supernatant B.b-SNPS of the fungal extract and biomass B.b-SNPS had the highest absorption at the longest wavelengths (380 and 435 nm) respectively. The scanning electron microscope images also showed that the silver nanoparticles were of irregular spherical shapes with average diameters of Bb-AgNPs for biomass and Bb-AgNPs for the supernatant (43.75 and 79.65) nanometers, respectively. The results showed that the silver nanoparticles prepared by the supernatant and the biomass of the fungus induced the highest egg mortality of 34.6% and 44.3%, while the egg mortality were 80.9 and 67.5%, respectively, when the fourth larval stage of the insect was treated. The overall results indicated that the prepared silver nanoparticles are highly efficient in affecting the eggs and larvae of the fourth instar, which can be used efficiently to reduce the rate of infection in the insect and can be a promising method for the insect control.