Controle microbiano da traça-da-batata, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) (Lepidoptera:Gelechiidae), com granulovírus

Abstract

Microbial control of the potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), using a granulovirus The Potato Tuber Moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is a major pest of potato causing up to 100% damage worldwide, especially under storage conditions. The use of chemical pesticides to control PTM usually increases production costs, generates toxic residues and farmer intoxications. Biological control is a desired alternative to be incorporated in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. The granulovirus, PhopGV (Baculoviridae) is one of the most important natural enemies of PTM, frequently causing epizootics in host populations. The current research focused on basic studies to evaluate the potential of PhopGV to control PTM at different incubation temperatures (18, 24 e 30 °C) on potato tuber and on foliage. Investigations about virus persistence were done for treated tubers, and side-effects due to viral infection were assessed on pupal weight and immune system of PTM larvae. The susceptibility of a related host, the tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepid.: Gelechiidae), to the virus was also investigated on tomato leaves (Solanum lycopersium L., Solanaceae). In order to improve larval mortality by the pathogen, the virus was tested at different concentrations in combination with two neem products (DalNeem ® and NeemAZAl ®), and PhopGV was also tested in talc dust formulation. All tested temperatures did not affect the susceptibility of PTM larvae to PhopGV, neither the yield of infected larvae nor the rate of larvae not recovered on tuber bioassays. These parameters were highly dependent on the virus concentration and concentrations > 1 x 10 6 OB.mL-1 resulted in 100% larval mortality. Although the yield of infected larvae did not vary among the temperatures, the incubation period until the harvest of these larvae was shorter at 30 °C. On potato foliage, PTM larvae were less susceptible to the virus than on tubers, indicating that different virus dosages must be used for applications in field and storage conditions. The pathogen showed high persistence resulting in more than 80% larval mortality 60 days post-treatment. The transmission of the virus from larva to pupa at lower virus inoculum (< 1 x 10 6 OB.mL-1) was confirmed. However, the infected pupae had similar weights to those healthy ones. Infected larvae presented much lower densities of haemocytes compared to uninfected larvae. The best combination of PhopGV and neem products was achieved by the mixture of 4 ppm DalNeem with 1 x 10 4 OB.mL-1 PhopGV, which resulted in higher PTM mortalities than both agents applied alone. NeemAzal had antagonistic effect when mixed with PhopGV resulting on reduced larval mortality. The talc dust formulation of virus promoted higher mortalities (> 70%) at concentrations < 5 x 10 6 OB.mL-1 than to nonformulated virus. PhopGV can be produced in vivo on potato tubers at 24-30 °C, and the use of this virus in combination with talc or D...

Bioatividade de nanoformulações de nim e extratos de outras Meliaceae e a sua interação com agentes de controle biológico visando ao controle de Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

“…Btk foi testado em Em trabalho recente foi observado o efeito de um granulovírus sobre T. absoluta(MASCARIN et al, 2010). O vírus que foi utilizado em bioensaio de laboratório é proveniente de P. operculella, sendo denominado Phthorimaea operculella granulovírus (PhopGV) Mascarin (2009). apresenta uma revisão sobre a ocorrência e eficiência desse patógeno para P. operculella.…”