Abstract
Microbial pathogens continue to attract a great deal of attention to manage the termite population. Every bacterium has its own mode of action and in fact, the mechanisms used by bacteria to attack termites remain elusive at the moment. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of subterranean termites Coptotermes curvignathus to opportunistic pathogens using culturable aerobic bacteria isolated from the termite gut and its foraging pathways. Bacterial suspensions were prepared in concentrations of 103, 106 and 109 colony-forming units (CFU) ml−1 and introduced to the termites via oral-contact and physical contact treatment. The data show that contact method acted slower and gave lower mortality, compared to the oral-contact method. Coptotermes curvignathus were highly susceptible to Serratia marcescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Serratia marcescens showed the highest mortality percentage of 68% and 54% at bacterial concentration of 109 CFU ml−1 via oral-contact and contact method, respectively. Serratia marcescens was also defined as the bacteria with the highest ability to induce the high mortality of C. curvignathus with the lowest concentration of bacterial suspension at a given time under laboratory condition. The results of this study indicate that P. aeruginosa and S. marcescens in particular may be attractive candidates worth further examination as a possible biocontrol agent against C. curvignathus in the field and to evaluate environmental and ecological risks of the biocontrol.
Highlights
In recent decades, there has been a steady increase in the amount of pesticides used
Bacterial strains used in this study were collected from the gut of C. curvignathus and foraging pathway from three different land-use types, namely rubberwood plantation at Lembaga Getah Malaysia (RRIM) Sungai Buloh (3.16° N, 101.56° E), housing area at Puchong (2.97° N, 101.70° E) and open grassland located in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor (2.98° N, 101.71° E)
The suspensions of bacteria were prepared at concentrations of 103, 106 and 109 colony-forming units (CFU) ml−1 according to the method published by Brown [20]
Summary
There has been a steady increase in the amount of pesticides used. The excessive use of pesticides in a variety of pest management situations including commercial farming, lawn care/ landscaping, forestry and wood preservation may lead to soil and water pollution and the destruction of biodiversity which are the consequences of pest’s habitat destruction by human activity. In terms of economic loss, around USD 40 billion has been spent annually on repairing the destroyed building of wood, forest and other commercial products responsible by termites [2]. Synthetic pesticide such as imidacloprid, bifenthrin, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan and lindane remains as the primary methods used to prevent and suppress termite attack on wooden materials and plantation [3]. The excessive use of chemicals on controlling termites is a serious environmental concern, with many countries under Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) banning utilization of many organochlorines due to harmful to human health [4]
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