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Lecanicillium attenuatum isolates affecting the invasive cypress aphid (Cinara cupressi) in Chile

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Abstract

The cypress aphid (Cinara cupressi) is listed among the hundred most important invasive pests in the world. In Chile, it was first detected in 2003 and currently is present throughout the country. In the course of a survey of their natural enemies in Chile, three strains of entomopathogenic fungi were isolated. The isolates were identified and tested against the aphid in laboratory experiments. Two further entomopathogenic fungi (ARSEF 5126 and 5128), formulated in the mycoinsecticides Vertalec® and Mycotal®, were used as reference strains. The three Chilean isolates were identified genomically as Lecanicillium attenuatum and were pathogenic to third-instar nymphs. The isolate ARSEF 13279 yielded the lowest overall lethal concentration (LC50), 3 × 105 conidia ml−1 at four days post-inoculation, and the shortest lethal time (LT50), 3.7 days after inoculation with 106 conidia ml−1. The results indicate that the isolates have considerable potential as microbial control agents of the invasive cypress aphid.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the late Dr. Walter Gams who provided important information about the identification of Lecanicillium species; USDA-ARS Collection of Entomopathogenic Fungal Cultures which provided Lecanicillium muscarium ARSEF 5128 and Lecanicillium longisporum ARSEF 5126; PhD supervisor, Dolly Lanfranco, for her continuous support and patience, many steps in this process would not have been accomplished without her help; M.Sc. Mónica Gutierrez for managing the importation and quarantine of foreign strains of Lecanicillium in the Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), Laboratorio Regional Osorno; SAG for support of this study in its facilities and DID of the Universidad Austral of Chile Project D-2011-11 for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Bioquímica y Microbiología, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile

    Cristian Montalva & Eduardo Valenzuela

  2. Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Akademicka 2, 949 01, Nitra, Slovakia

    Marek Barta

  3. Laboratorio Regional SAG Osorno, Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero, Ruta a Puerto Octay U-55-V, Calle de Servicio, Osorno, Chile

    Eladio Rojas

  4. Departamento de Producción Vegetal, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Méndez 595, Chillán, Chile

    Nolberto Arismendi

  5. Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública (IPTSP), Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia, Goiás, 74605-050, Brazil

    Juscelino Rodrigues

  6. USDA-ARS Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research Unit, Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, 538 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY, 14853-2901, USA

    Richard A. Humber

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  1. Cristian Montalva
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  2. Eduardo Valenzuela
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Correspondence to Cristian Montalva.

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Montalva, C., Valenzuela, E., Barta, M. et al. Lecanicillium attenuatum isolates affecting the invasive cypress aphid (Cinara cupressi) in Chile. BioControl 62, 625–637 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-017-9817-9

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