Occurrence and diversity of entomopathogenic fungi in cultivated and uncultivated soils in Pakistan

Abstract

The distribution of entomopathogenic fungi in various geographical areas of Punjab, Pakistan, is poorly understood. The present study was planned to explore the occurrence and diversity of entomopathogenic fungi from soils collected from cultivated and non‐cultivated habitats. The detailed survey of different habitats (crop fields, fruits, vegetables, forests) was conducted to collect soil samples and the associated fungi were isolated using Galleria bait method. Among 210 soil samples, 168 fungal isolates were recovered and identified, with 98 from forests, 32 from vegetables, 30 from field crops and 8 from fruits. The major entomopathogenic fungi recovered from these samples were Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Paecilomyces lilacinus, B. brongniartii, P. chlamydosporia and Lecanicillium attenuatum. The diversity of entomopathogenic fungi was greater in soil samples from forests compared to crop fields, vegetables and fruits, respectively. The geographical attributes (altitude, longitude, latitude) greatly influenced the occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi with the highest number of isolates found from >600 m altitude, 33°–34′N latitude, and 73°74′E longitude from soil samples. The results of the surveys clearly indicated that the entomopathogenic fungi are distributed in the soils which may be used in successful IPM programs in future.

Phenotypic, molecular, and virulence characterization of entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana (Balsam) Vuillemin, and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorokin from soil samples of Ethiopia for the development of mycoinsecticide

“…The entomopathogenic Beauveria was dominant in all samples except the menagesha forest site indicating variation in the distribution of Beauveria and Metarhizium isolates in agricultural and forest soils. A study conducted by Wakil et al (2013) stated the greater abundance and distribution of Beauveria spp. 10 (5.95%) followed by Metarhizium sp 5 (2.98%) from 168 soil samples collected from different cultivated and uncultivated lands.…”

Virulence of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae against red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier)

“…All these isolates were recovered from soils of different origin (field crops, fruit orchards, vegetable fields and forest) and stored grain insect pests (Wakil et al . , ). Another five isolates, three of B. bassiana (WG‐41, WG‐42, WG‐43) and two of M. anisopliae (WG‐44, WG‐45), were isolated from infected RPW cadavers collected from Layyah, Bahawalpur, Dera Ismail Khan and Muzaffargarh districts (Table ).…”

Fungal infection dynamics in response to temperature in the lepidopteran insect Galleria mellonella

“…The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella (L.) is susceptible to EPF and non‐EPF and is used as a bait to isolate EPF from the soil (Zimmermann, ; Wakil et al ., ). In apiculture, the wax moth is considered to be a pest because the larvae feed on the honeycomb inside beehives.…”