Establishment of the fungal entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana as a season long endophyte in jute (Corchorus olitorius) and its rapid detection using SCAR marker

Beauveria bassiana is a fungal entomopathogen with the ability to colonize plants endophytically. As an endophyte, B. bassiana may play a role in protecting plants from herbivory and disease. This protocol demonstrates two inoculation methods to establish B. bassiana endophytically in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), in preparation for subsequent evaluations of endophytic biological control. Plants are grown from surface-sterilized seeds for two weeks before receiving a B. bassiana treatment of 10 8 conidia/ml (or water) applied either as a foliar spray or a soil drench. Two weeks later, the plants are harvested and their leaves, stems and roots are sampled to evaluate endophytic fungal colonization. For this, samples are individually surface sterilized, cut into multiple sections, and incubated in potato dextrose agar media for 20 days. The media is inspected every 2-3 days to observe fungal growth associated with plant sections and record the occurrence of B. bassiana to estimate the extent of its endophytic colonization. Analyses of inoculation success compare the occurrence of B. bassiana within a given plant part (i.e. leaves, stems or roots) across treatments and controls. In addition to the inoculation method, the specific outcome of the experiment may depend on the target crop species or variety, the fungal entomopathogen species strain or isolate used, and the plant's growing conditions.

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“…It would be ideal for an inoculation method to result in systemic plant colonization by a fungal entomopathogen 14,17,18,21 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, endophyte detection methods based on media cultures are subject to false positives and false negatives. Accordingly, the development of more reliable detection and quantification methods, for example those based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays 20,21,24 ,is well justified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing Fungal Entomopathogens as Endophytes: Towards Endophytic Biological Control

Parsa

Ortiz

Vega

2013

JoVE

120

125

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“…Both B. bassiana and M. (anisopliae) robertsii form intimate relationships with plants, with the former reported as an endophyte of certain plants, whereas the latter displays specific interactions with plant roots and hence has been termed "rhizospere competent" (Bruck 2010;St Leger 2008;Vega et al 2008). B. bassiana has been shown to form endophytic relationships with both monocots and dicots including tomato (Powell et al 2009), corn (Wagner and Lewis 2000), banana (Akello et al 2007), jute (Biswas et al 2012), coffee (Posada et al 2007), cotton (Vega 2008), poppy (Quesada-Moraga et al 2006), and even pine trees (Brownbridge et al 2012). Both fungi are capable of mobilizing nutrients to plants.…”

Section: Insect and Plant Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving mycoinsecticides for insect biological control

Ortiz‐Urquiza

Luo

Keyhani

2014

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

145

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The desire for decreased reliance on chemical pesticides continues to fuel interest in alternative means for pest control including the use of naturally occurring microbial insect pathogens. Insects, as vectors of disease causing agents or as agricultural pests, are responsible for millions of deaths and significant economic losses worldwide, placing stresses on productivity (GDP) and human health and welfare. In addition, alterations in climate change are likely to affect insect ranges, expanding their access to previously constrained geographic areas, a potentially worrisome outcome. Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, two cosmopolitan fungal pathogens of insects found in almost all ecosystems, are the most commonly applied mycoinsecticides for a variety of insect control purposes. The availability of the complete genomes for both organisms coupled to robust technologies for their transformation has led to several advances in engineering these fungi for greater efficacy and/or utility in pest control applications. Here, we will provide an overview of the fungal-insect and fungal-plant interactions that occur and highlight recent advances in the genetic engineering of these fungi. The latter work has resulted in the development of strains displaying (1) increased resistance to abiotic stress, (2) increased cuticular targeting and degradation, (3) increased virulence via expression of insecticidal protein/peptide toxins, (4) the ability to block transmission of disease causing agents, and (5) the ability to target specific insect hosts, decrease host fecundity, and/or alter insect behaviors.

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“…For instance, the presence of T. cylindrosporum decreased in bean and tomato leaves as time after inoculation increased (Herrero et al 2012b ). In the case of B. bassiana , its incidence in inoculated plants decreased in coffee, but not in corn, jute, or cocoa (Anderson and Lewis 1992 ;Biswas et al 2012 ;Posada et al 2007 ). Although the method of inoculation, as well as the fungal strain used, might be associated to the persistence of endophytes, the host plant genotype is likely to have a very important role in the compatibility of plant-endophyte associations.…”

Section: Presence Of Entomopathogenic and Nematophagous Fungal Endophmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entomopathogenic and Nematophagous Fungal Endophytes

Quesada‐Moraga

Herrero

Zabalgogeazcoa

2013

Advances in Endophytic Research

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Biological control agents have received a considerable amount of attention as alternatives to chemicals for the development of new control methods but also due to the disparate ecological niches occupied by them. Entomopathogenic (EF) and nematophagous fungi (NF) enter their hosts directly via the cuticle or natural openings, what makes them attractive agents for biological pest control. These fungi have been traditionally viewed simply as animal predators, but recent studies show that a considerable number of fungal pathogens of invertebrates have an endophytic phase in their life cycles. Several taxa of EF and NF have been identifi ed as naturally occurring endophytes and could be artifi cially inoculated in agricultural plant species. In addition, symbioses with some endophytic species positively affect plant growth and resistance against fungal pathogens. These additional ecological roles give a new perspective to the study of these organisms, because they are part of tritrophic interactions where plants, invertebrates, and fungi are closely involved. Understanding fungal-plant, fungal-pest, fungal-pathogen, and fungal-plant-pest interactions, plus the role of fungal viruses, that infect EF, could lead to the development of novel integrated crop production and protection tools.

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Establishment of the fungal entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana as a season long endophyte in jute (Corchorus olitorius) and its rapid detection using SCAR marker

Cited by 65 publications

References 20 publications

Establishing Fungal Entomopathogens as Endophytes: Towards Endophytic Biological Control

Establishing Fungal Entomopathogens as Endophytes: Towards Endophytic Biological Control

Improving mycoinsecticides for insect biological control

Entomopathogenic and Nematophagous Fungal Endophytes

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