Abstract
ABSTRACTEntomopathogenic fungal species from the genera Beauveria, Metarhizium and Lecanicillium are important components in biological control of insect pests. However, temperature, humidity and UV radiation are among the important abiotic factors, which limit their effective usage. In this study, four local isolates of Metarhizium were isolated from different crop rhiospheres of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states of India, identified and tested for their temperature tolerance in terms of radial growth, conidial yield per 10 mm disc and rate of conidial germination at different incubation temperatures. The results revealed that strains LaMa1 and MaAICRP performed well in terms of radial growth, conidial yield and rate of conidial germination, even at 35°C temperature. The role of such temperature tolerant strains in agriculture is discussed.
Highlights
Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) infect insects and are of great importance in biological control of crop pests
Three isolates identified as Metarhizium spp. initially using morphological and colony characteristics were isolated by using standard procedures
All the isolates were identified as M. anisopliae by molecular sequences of the ITS region and homology search in database
Summary
Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) infect insects and are of great importance in biological control of crop pests. Important genera among EPF are Beauveria, Metarhizium and Lecanicillium. Several species of these genera are in commercial use as Myco-biocontrol agents in agriculture (de Faria and Wraight 2007). These fungi by virtue of their mode of action can directly infect an insect through its cuticle. This property is especially useful in the control of sucking pests. Since EPF are generally slow growers, other fast growing opportunistic fungi and bacteria dominate while culturing, which is addressed by the selective use of bacterial antibiotics and fungicides
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