Molecular identification of three entomopathogenic fungi infecting the brown plant hopper pest in Indonesia

Endang Warih Minarni,Loekas Soesanto,Agus Suyanto,Rostaman Rostaman

doi:10.1186/s41938-021-00412-7

Endang Warih Minarni, Loekas Soesanto + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41938-021-00412-7

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Abstract

BackgroundBrown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stal.) a very damaging pest to rice crops. One of the efforts to control it is the use of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF). Three fungal local isolates found in Indonesia were effective in controlling the brown plant hopper pest. This study aimed to molecularly identify the 3 fungal isolates. Molecular identification is very important to get the exact identity of these fungi. The accuracy of EPF identification will greatly determine the success of control. Molecular identification is based on a partial genetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) locus of ribosomal fungal DNA.ResultMorphology of the local isolates named J22 and J60 were identified as Paecilomyces sp., while the isolate J34 was identified as Beauveria sp. The results of molecular identification of the isolates J22 and J60 were identified as the fungi Lecanicillium saksenae and Simplicillium sp., while isolate J34 was identified as Myrothecium sp. The results of literature search showed that the 3 fungi have never been previously reported to infect the brown plant hopper.ConclusionIn Indonesia, 3 types of EPF, namely L. saksenae, Simplicillium sp., and Myrothecium sp., were found having the potential to control the brown plant hopper pest.

Highlights

Brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stal.) a very damaging pest to rice crops
Fungal isolates that will be identified previously were grown in potato dextrose broth (PDB) liquid media
entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) isolates that showed high phylogenetic relationship and had a similarity value of 28S rDNA sequence of more than 99% with the reference species that could be expressed as one species

Summary

Introduction

Brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stal.) a very damaging pest to rice crops. One of the efforts to control it is the use of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF). Three fungal local isolates found in Indonesia were effective in controlling the brown plant hopper pest. The accuracy of EPF identification will greatly determine the success of control. Molecular identification is based on a partial genetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) locus of ribosomal fungal DNA. Brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens is a major insect pest of rice that causes 20–80% yield loss through direct and indirect damage. The typical damage caused by BPH is drying of plants as if burning (hopperburn) (Balachiranjeevi et al 2019). Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are fungi that can infect and kill insects (Litwin et al 2020).

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