Field and greenhouse application of an attract‐and‐kill formulation based on the yeast Hanseniaspora uvarum and the insecticide spinosad to control Drosophila suzukii in grapes

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The invasive insect Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) is an important pest of several red grape varieties. The yeast Hanseniaspora uvarum (Niehaus), which is associated with D. suzukii, strongly attracts flies and stimulates them to feed on yeast-laden food. In the present study, a formulation based on H. uvarum culture with spinosad insecticide was applied to the foliage of vineyards and control of D. suzukii wascompared to applying spinosad to the whole plant. After successfulH. uvarum and insecticide application in the vineyard, we tested additional H. uvarum-based formulations with spinosad in a greenhouse to determine their capacity to control D. suzukii.RESULTS: Application of the H. uvarum-spinosad formulation at 36.4 g of spinosad per hectare reduced the D. suzukii field infestation at the same rate as applying 120 g of spinosad per hectare and prevented spinosad residues on grapes. Leaves treated with H. uvarum and spinosad in the field and transferred to a laboratory assay caused high mortality to flies and reduced the number of eggs laid on fruits. Formulations with spinosad applied in the greenhouse showed that both H. uvarum culture and the yeast cell-free supernatant of a centrifuged culture increased fly mortality and reduced the number of eggs laid compared to the unsprayed control.CONCLUSION: In comparison to typical spinosad spray applications, the use of H. uvarum in combination with spinosad as an attract-and-kill formulation against D. suzukii reduces pesticide residues on the fruits by targeting the treatment to the canopy and decreasing the amount of insecticide per hectare without compromising control efficacy.

Heterologous expression and functional characterization of Drosophila suzukii OR69a transcript variants unveiled response to kairomones and to a candidate pheromone

“…5, Online Resource 8). H. uvarum is one of the main yeast symbionts of berries, it is renowned for its ecological relations with D. suzukii and interferes with the behavior of the insect (Rehermann et al 2021;Spitaler et al 2022;Mori et al 2017;Jones et al 2021;Lewis and Hamby 2019;Hamby et al 2012). Although the compounds from H. uvarum headspace with activity on the DsuzOr69a-subunits were not identified, by invoking responses, it demonstrates involvements of DsuzOR69as in binding compounds emitted by this yeast, and it further remarks the ecological relations between this microorganism and the D. suzukii insect.…”

“…Among the first studies on D. suzukii behavior, it was demonstrated that chemosensory information influences reproduction of the insect (Revadi et al 2015a). While possible frontiers in mating disruption still seem to be far, other methods based on D. suzukii chemical sensing demonstrated promising effects in the development of attract and kill control (Klick et al 2019;Rice et al 2017;Rehermann et al 2021;Spitaler et al 2022).…”

Hanseniaspora uvarum Attracts Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) With High Specificity

“…Even the development of population control tactics including attracticides will benefit from the identification of highly specific SWD attractants ( Mori et al 2017 , Noble et al 2019 , Bianchi et al 2020 , Spitaler et al 2020 , Rehermann et al 2022 , Spitaler et al 2022 ).…”

Blueberries infected with the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum fioriniae release odors that repel Drosophila suzukii

“…13 For example, D. suzukii adults are attracted to fermentation odors 14,15 and other microbial volatiles. 16 Though fermentation volatiles are used as lures in the field, [17][18][19] effective repellents are also needed for successful push-pull management. Currently, 1-octen-3-ol, geosmin, and 2-pentylfuran have been identified as promising D. suzukii repellents.…”