Abstract
Insect pests reduce global crop yields by up to 20%, but the most effective control measures are currently based on environmentally hazardous chemical pesticides. An alternative, ecologically beneficial pest-management strategy involves the use of microbial pathogens (or active compounds and extracts derived from them) that naturally target selected insect pests. A novel strain of the bacterium Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides showed promising activity in our preliminary tests. Here, we investigated its effects in more detail, focusing on drosophilid and aphid pests by testing the survival of two species representing the family Drosophilidae (Drosophila suzukii and D. melanogaster) and one representing the family Aphididae (Acyrthosiphon pisum). We used oral and septic infection models to administer living bacteria or cell-free extracts to adult flies and aphid nymphs. We found that infection with living bacteria significantly reduced the survival of our insect models, whereas the administration of cell-free extracts had a significant effect only in aphids. These results confirm that L. pseudomesenteroides has potential as a new biocontrol agent for sustainable pest management.
Highlights
Insect pests damage plants by direct feeding and by vectoring pathogens [1,2,3,4]
Agrochemicals are widely used for the control of insects to protect food/feed crops, and some chemical insecticides are not hazardous when applied correctly, many harm beneficial insects and their use is banned by statute [7]
To determine the insecticidal activity of L. pseudomesenteroides in D. melanogaster and D. suzukii, we fed adult female flies with bacteria reconstituted in 50 mM sucrose at an OD600 of 1 or 0.1
Summary
Insect pests damage plants by direct feeding and by vectoring pathogens [1,2,3,4]. In this manner, agricultural pest insects reduce global crop yields by up to 20% per year [5,6]. Agrochemicals are widely used for the control of insects to protect food/feed crops, and some chemical insecticides are not hazardous when applied correctly, many harm beneficial insects (such as pollinators and natural predators) and their use is banned by statute [7]. We need new pest control methods that cause less environmental harm and are compatible with sustainable agriculture [8,9]. One alternative strategy that addresses these challenges is the use of biological control agents, including natural pathogens and their specific bioactive products
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