• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Friday, September 22, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Fungus simultaneously combats two of the worst threats to banana plantation yields

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 28, 2022
in Science News
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

The banana borer Cosmopolites sordidus and the disease Fusarium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum, are among the most harmful pests that threaten the livelihoods of banana growers, who face major challenges in attempting to control them. The former is a species of weevil that bores into the plant’s rhizome (the underground stem that produces roots and shoots), weakening its root system, reducing nutrient absorption and significantly lowering yield. The adult insect also spreads and increases infection by other pathogens. Fusarium wilt, popularly known as Panama disease, is a fungal disease that blocks the flow of water and nutrients, spreading rapidly and eventually killing the plant.

Biological control

Credit: bioassay involving banana borer and entomopathogenic fungus B. caledonica/Jeanne S. Marinho-Prado

The banana borer Cosmopolites sordidus and the disease Fusarium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum, are among the most harmful pests that threaten the livelihoods of banana growers, who face major challenges in attempting to control them. The former is a species of weevil that bores into the plant’s rhizome (the underground stem that produces roots and shoots), weakening its root system, reducing nutrient absorption and significantly lowering yield. The adult insect also spreads and increases infection by other pathogens. Fusarium wilt, popularly known as Panama disease, is a fungal disease that blocks the flow of water and nutrients, spreading rapidly and eventually killing the plant.

Commercial plantations require a combination of management practices to mitigate their effects, including biological control. A soil-borne fungus that has not yet been studied in depth in Brazil or elsewhere and can be used for this purpose was recently isolated by scientists at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and Bioversity International’s Regional Office for the Americas in Colombia, with the support of researchers at the São Paulo’s Agency for Agribusiness Technology (APTA) in the Ribeira Valley region and the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC). The fungus is called Beauveria caledonica and it was found in the Ribeira Valley, a major banana-growing area in the south of São Paulo state.

The study was supported by FAPESP. An article reporting its findings is published in Pest Management Science. The paper describes how B. caledonica (Bc) infects and kills C. sordidus as well as inhibits Fusarium wilt. The full scientific name of the fungus that causes this disease is Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc).

“The paper shows the dual role performed by Bc for the first time. We isolated the fungus from naturally infected banana borers and tested it against two of the main pests affecting bananas,” said Jeanne Scardini Marinho-Prado, second author of the article. She is an agronomist with a PhD in entomology from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Minas Gerais.

The group found Bc to be more effective in the biocontrol of adult banana borers than B. bassiana, a similar fungus currently used to combat the insect in the field. “We isolated Bc from adult borers collected on the plantation and produced a totally biodegradable emulsion of vegetable oil containing its conidia [spores],” said Gabriel Moura Mascarin, first author of the article and the main person responsible for the formulation in emulsifiable oil. Mascarin has a PhD in insect pathology and microbial control from the University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) and the US Department of Agriculture’s Crop Bioprotection Research Unit in Peoria, Illinois.

The oil makes the fungus stick to the insect and facilitates its infection. The group also discovered that the fungus produces a secondary compound called oosporein, which intensifies its action against Foc. “Only now are scientists aware of the antagonistic effects of B. caledonica and its metabolite oosporein against Foc,” said Marinho-Prado, currently a researcher at EMBRAPA Environment, one of EMBRAPA’s decentralized units.

Oosporein was detected and quantified by nuclear MRI and mass spectrometry. In a laboratory assay against Foc, cell-free filtrates derived from a culture broth of Bc containing oosporein strongly reduced conidial viability and inhibited fungal germination of Foc.

“The study shows that commercial banana groves infested with borer weevils can be home to a highly specialized community of entomopathogenic fungi,” Marinho-Prado said. The soil is an important reservoir for these fungi, which can parasitize and kill or incapacitate insects. “Understanding the interaction between C. sordidus and entomopathogenic fungi can point to their relations with other soil microorganisms and is crucial to the development of fungus-based biopesticides.” No commercial products based on B. caledonica exist as yet, she added.

Development of biopesticides with strains that act more powerfully against the target insect, by selection in the laboratory, formulation, novel application or genetic manipulation, can make this microorganism more competitive for use in pest control programs and promote healthier banana groves.

The paper is signed by Mascarin, Marinho-Prado and Márcia Regina Assalin (EMBRAPA Environment); Lucas Gelin Martins, Erik Sobrinho Braga and Ljubica Tasic (UNICAMP); Miguel Dita (Bioversity International); and Rogerio Biaggioni Lopes (EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology).

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe



Journal

Pest Management Science

DOI

10.1002/ps.7063

Article Title

Natural occurrence of Beauveria caledonica, pathogenicity to Cosmopolites sordidus and antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense

Article Publication Date

1-Jul-2022

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Immune Cells

Australian research leads to clinical trial for rare women’s cancers

September 22, 2023
Ochsner Medical Center - New Orleans

Ochsner offers tuition assistance to aspiring nurses and doctors

September 22, 2023

Peru’s Operation Mercury stopped most illegal gold mining in one biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

September 21, 2023

Study shows millions of people live with co-occuring chronic pain and mental health symptoms

September 21, 2023

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Microbe Computers

    58 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 15
  • University of South Florida scientist: Barnacles may help reveal location of lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Lithuanian invention at the forefront of solar technology breakthrough

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • A pioneering study from Politecnico di Milano sheds light on one of the still poorly understood aspects of cancer

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Australian research leads to clinical trial for rare women’s cancers

Ochsner offers tuition assistance to aspiring nurses and doctors

Peru’s Operation Mercury stopped most illegal gold mining in one biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 57 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In