Genetic improvement of natural enemies: A review

Abstract

Biological control has been accepted as an eco-friendly, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable method of pest management. Various technologies and methods have been adapted in order to genetically improve the performances of natural enemies (predators, parasitoids and pathogens). Artificial selection of various strains under different conditions, hybridization (heterosis) of different strains and rDNA technologies has been adopted towards these directions. Various traits like tolerant to pesticidal stress, tolerant to extreme abiotic stresses, shortening developmental rate, enhancing progeny production, altering sex ratio and altering host or habitat preferences could enhance the effectiveness of natural enemies. The genetically improved natural enemies (predators, parasitoids and pathogens) might be the next level biological weapons against the pest populations in agricultural systems.

Does experimental evolution produce better biological control agents? A critical review of the evidence

“…This is particularly relevant today, in the modern era of genomics, as this method could further be enhanced by genomic approaches, for example, genomic selection (Routray et al, 2016;Lommen et al, 2017;Kruitwagen et al, 2018). We suggest that the interest of the community in this method should not fade away, but rather get stronger.…”

“…Still, whereas the improvement in crops has been largely dependent upon selective breeding, this is not the case for the production of natural enemies. Nevertheless, recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in improving biocontrol agents via experimental evolution or artificial selection, judging from recent reviews (Arora & Shera, 2014;Venkatesan & Jalali, 2015;Routray et al, 2016;Lommen et al, 2017;Kruitwagen et al, 2018). One reason may be that selective breeding in agriculture has been done for thousands of years and thus is currently a fine-tuned methodology, whereas improvement of natural enemies for biological control is a recent strategy, still under development.…”

“…We do not focus on the genetics and genomics of biocontrol traits, as this has been the object of recent reviews (Routray et al, 2016;Lommen et al, 2017;Kruitwagen et al, 2018). First, we refer to the methodological underpinnings of experimental evolution and how they are (not) met in studies on biocontrol agents.…”

“…Another reason could be that this method is time-and space-consuming, requiring a substantial amount of biological and ecological knowledge, compared to classical importation (Hoy, 1986(Hoy, , 1988a. Nevertheless, recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in improving biocontrol agents via experimental evolution or artificial selection, judging from recent reviews (Arora & Shera, 2014;Venkatesan & Jalali, 2015;Routray et al, 2016;Lommen et al, 2017;Kruitwagen et al, 2018). However, none of these reviews focuses specifically on experimental evolution and/or artificial selection.…”

Trichoderma as an efficacious bioagent for combating biotic and abiotic stresses of wheat-A review

“…Since, biotic stresses have major effects on agricultural production and achieving the goal of food security, sustainable strategies for disease management are necessary in order to minimize the use of pesticides in agriculture. In this regard, biological control using natural enemies like Trichoderma has been accepted as an eco-friendly, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable method of pest management (Routray et al, 2016). Biological controls lean to be highly specific and have different mode of action which includes, parasitism, predator, antibiosis, competition for site and nutrition, as well as by inducing the resistant in plants against pathogen, including induced systemic resistance (Kamal et al, 2015).…”