Entomopathogenic Fungi as Endophyte: An Emerging Tool for Biological Pest Control

Chandra Kanta Dash ,Bamisope Steve Bamisile ,Mohon Nondi ,Sangeeta Mitra

doi:10.7176/jbah/10-16-04

Abstract

Biological control using fungal entomopathogen is an effective and sustainable alternative to chemical control of insect pests. However, despite enormous potential, they have not been fully utilized due to their susceptibility to unfavorable abiotic factors such as ultraviolet (UV) light and low humidity. An increasing number of studies in the last decade demonstrates that entomopathogenic fungi have wider ecology than previously thought. They have been found to colonize various plant naturally as endophyte as well as they have been successfully established in plants with various inoculation methods. In planta presence of these fungi can overcome the impediments arise from inundative application of fungal suspension as they have been found not only protect the host plant from pest and disease but also act as a plant growth promoter. In this review, we discussed the multiple benefits provided by fungal entomopathogens following their association with the host plant as an endophyte and highlights the prospects of incorporating fungal endophytes as an integral part of pest management programs towards sustainable crop production. Keywords: Fungal endophyte, Plant colonization, Beauveria , Metarhizium, Lecanicillium DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-16-04 Publication date: August 31 st 2020

Highlights

Insect pests cause 18–26 % crop loss worldwide, with a value of more than $ 470 billion and the major part (13– 16 %) occurs in the field (Culliney 2014)
We provide a summary of multiple benefits provided by entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) following their endophytic association in plants and highlight the prospects of including fungal endophytes as biocontrol agents in integrated pest management program
Seed treatment of wheat with Beauveria bassiana (NATURALIS) and Metarhizium brunneum www.iiste.org (BIPESCO5) reduced crown and root rot (CRR) in wheat (Jaber 2018) and sweet pepper (Jaber & Alananbeh 2018) a disease caused by Fusarium culmorum

Summary

Introduction

Insect pests cause 18–26 % crop loss worldwide, with a value of more than $ 470 billion and the major part (13– 16 %) occurs in the field (Culliney 2014). 3. Endophytic insect pathogenic fungi as plant growth promoters A growing number of studies have demonstrated the ability of EPF to promote plant growth when colonized artificially with various inoculation methods (Kabaluk & Ericsson 2007; García et al 2011; Sasan & Bidochka 2012; Liao et al 2014; Lopez & Sword 2015; Jaber & Enkerli 2016; Jaber & Enkerli 2017; Dash et al 2018; Bamisile et al 2020).

Results

Conclusion