Biological control of Fuller rose beetle with beneficial nematodes

Fuller rose beetle, Asynonychus godmani- Nematode Information

Fuller rose beetle, Asynonychus godmani is one of the most economically important pests of roses and citrus.  A laboratory study conducted by Morse and Lindegren (1996) showed that an entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae caused a maximum 67 and 83% mortality of three week old larvae and adults of the Fuller rose beetle, Asynonychus godmani with 500 and 150 nematode infective juveniles, respectively. Subsequent field study also showed that the application of nematodes significantly reduced the emergence of adult fuller rose beetles in the second year after nematode application. This suggests that the applied entomopathogenic nematodes were recycled and persisted in the field for two years.

Literature:

Morse, J.G. and Lindegren, J.E. 1996. Suppression of fuller rose beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on citrus with Steinernema carpocapsae (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae).  Florida Entomologist 79: 373-384. 

A novel entomopathogenic nematode formulation to attract insect pests

Western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera and entomopathogenic nematodes

In this formulation, entomopathogenic nematodes were encapsulated in the capsules, which were prepared from several compounds including a polysaccharide extracted from the algae, Laminaria spp. According to Hiltpold et al., (2012), these entomopathogic nematode-filled capsules are easy to apply in the field and from these capsules entomopathogenic nematodes can easily break through, and successfully infect insect pests such as Western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera. Also, these nematode-filled capsules can attract insect pests in the field if they are coated with insect food stimulant or attractants.

Literatures:

Hiltpold, I., Hibbard, B.E., French, B.W. and Turlings, T.C.J. 2012. Capsules containing entomopathogenic nematodes as a Trojan horse approach to control the western corn rootworm. Plant and Soil 358: 10-24.

Research papers presented on entomopathogenic nematodes at 51st SON Annual Meeting

Research papers on entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria

Following 12 research papers on entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria were presented at the Society of Nematologists 51^st Annual meeting, which was held in Savannah, Georgia from August 12^th -15^th, 2012.

1.  Ali, J.G., Alborn, H.T., Campos-Herrera, R., Kaplan, F.,Duncan, L.W., Rodriguez-Saona, C., Koppenhöfer, A.M. and L.L. Stelinski, L.L. 2012. Herbivore induced plants volatiles and entomopathogenic nematodes as agents of plant indirect defense.
2. Bal, H.K.,Taylor, R.A.J. and Grewal, P.S.2012. Ambush foraging entomopathogenic nematodes employ ‘sprinting emigrants’ for long distance dispersal in the absence of hosts.
3. Blackburn, D. andAdams, B.J.2012. Evolution of virulence in an entomopathogenic nematode symbiont.
4. Campos-Herrera, R., ElBorai, F.E. andDuncan, L.W. 2012. Manipulating soil food webs in aFloridaorganic citrus orchard to enhance biocontrol by entomopathogenic nematodes.
5. Dillman, A., Mortazavi, A., Hallem, E. and Paul W. Sternberg, P.W. 2012. Host-seeking, olfaction, foraging strategies, and the genomic architecture of parasitism among Steinernema nematodes.
6. Griffin, C.T., Dillon, A.m.,Harvey, C.D. and C.D. Williams, C.D. 2012. Multitrophic interactions involving entomopathogenic nematodes applied against pine weevils in a forest ecosystem.
7. Lancaster, J.D, Mohammad, B. and Abebe, E. 2012. Entomopathogenic symbiosis of Caenorhabditis briggsae KT0001 and Serratia sp. SCBI: Analysis of fitness.
8. Noguez, J., Conner, E.S., Zhou, Y., Ciche, T.A., Ragains, J.R. and Butcher, R.A. 2012.  A novel ascaroside controls the parasitic life cycle of the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora.
9. Pathak, E., Campos-Herrera, R., ElBorai, F.E., Stuart,R.J., Graham, J.H. andDuncan, L.W. 2012. Environmental factors affecting community structure of nematophagus fungi and their prey inFloridacitrus groves.
10. Shapiro-Ilan, D.I., Leskey, T.C., Wright, S.E., Brown,I.and Fall, L. 2012. Entomophathogenic nematodes: Effects of the soil agroecosystem on biological control potential.
11. Somasekhar Nethi, S. Jagdale, G.B. and Grewal, P.S. 2012. Interactions among entomopathogenic nematodes and other nematode trophic groups and plants in agroecosystems.
12. Zeng Qi Zhao, Z.Q., Davies, K.A., Brenton-Rule, E.C., Grangier, J., Gruber, M.A.M., Giblin-Davis, R.M. and Lester, P.J. 2012. New Diploscapter sp. (Rhabditida: Diploscapteridae) from the native ant, Prolasius advenus, inNew Zealand.

Seminars on Entomopathogenic Nematodes and Multitrophic interactions in the soil

Symposium on Entomopathogenic Nematodes and Multitrophic interactions- nematodeinformation Three researchers including Raquel Campos-Herrera, Claudia Dolinski and Ganpati B. Jagdale have organized a Symposium entitled “Entomopathogenic Nematodes and Multitrophic interactions in the Rhizosphere” at the Society of Nematologists 51^st Annual meeting, which would be held in Savannah, Georgia from August 12^th to 15^th 2012.  In this symposium, four seminar on the following research areas will be presented by different speakers starting at  8.0am on Tuesday August 14, 2012, Marriot Riverfront hotel, Savanna, GA.

Seminar topics and speakers:

1. Multitrophic interactions involving entomopathogenic nematodes applied against pine weevils in a forest ecosystem by Christine T. Griffin, A.M. Dillon, C.D. Harvey and C.D. Williams.
2. Entomophathogenic nematodes: Effects of the soil agroecosystem on biological control potential by David I. Shapiro-Ilan, T.C. Leskey, S.E. Wright, I. Brown, and L. Fall.
3. Interactions among entomopathogenic nematodes and other nematode trophic groups and plants in agroecosystems by Somasekhar Nethi, G.B. Jagdale and P.S. Grewal.
4. Herbivore induced plants volatiles and entomopathogenic nematodes as agents of plant indirect defense by Jared G. Ali, H.T. Alborn, R. Campos-Herrera, F. Kaplan, L.W. Duncan, C. Rodriguez-Saona, A.M. Koppenhöfer, and L.L. Stelinski.

Use of real-time PCR in insect nematology

Entomopathogenic nematodes and RT-PCR- nematodeinformation

Read following papers on the real-time PCR and Insect Nematology

Bae, S. and Kim, Y. 2003.   Lysozyme of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua: activity induction and cDNA structure. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B-Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 135: 511-519.

Campos-Herrera R, El-Borai F.E., Stuart R.J., Graham J.H., DuncanL.W. 2011. Entomopathogenic nematodes, phoretic Paenibacillus spp., and the use of real time quantitative PCR to explore soil food webs inFlorida citrus groves. Journal Invertebrate Pathology 108:30-9.

Campos-Herrera, R., Johnson, E. G, El-Borai, F. E., Stuart, R. J., Graham, J. H. and Duncan, L. W.2011. Long-term stability of entomopathogenic nematode spatial patterns in soil as measured by sentinel insects and real-time PCR. Annals of Applied Biology 158: 55-68.

Ciche, T.A. and Sternberg, P.W. 2007.  Postembryonic RNAi in Heterorhabditis bacteriophora: a nematode insect parasite and host for insect pathogenic symbionts. BMC Developmental Biology 7, Article Number: 101.

Ji, D.J. and Kim, Y. 2004.   An entomopathogenic bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila, inhibits the expression of an antibacterial peptide, cecropin, of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua. Journal of Insect Physiology 50: 489-496.

Park, D., Ciezki, K., van der Hoeven, R., Singh, S., Reimer, D., Bode, H.B. and Forst, S. 2009. Genetic analysis of xenocoumacin antibiotic production in the mutualistic bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila. Molecular Microbiology 73: 938-949.

Pathak, E., El-Borai, F.E., Campos-Herrera, R., Johnson, E.G., Stuart, R.J., Graham, J.H. and Duncan, L.W. 2012.  Use of real-time PCR to discriminate parasitic and saprophagous behaviour by nematophagous fungi.  Fungal Biology 116: 563-573.

Shrestha, Y.K. and Lee, K.Y. 2012. Oral toxicity of Photorhabdus culture media on gene expression of the adult sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 109: 91-96.

Son, Y. and Kim, Y. 2011.  Immunosuppression induced by entomopathogens is rescued by addition of apolipophorin III in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 106: 217-222.

Song, C.J., Seo, S., Shrestha, S. and Kim, Y.  2011. Bacterial Metabolites of an Entomopathogenic bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila, inhibit a catalytic activity of phenoloxidase of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 21: 317-322.

Torr, P., Spiridonov, S.E., Heritage, S. and Wilson, M.J. 2007. Habitat associations of two entomopathogenic nematodes: a quantitative study using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions. Journal of Animal Ecology 76: 238-245.

Steinernema feltiae attracts to cues from slugs

Scavenging and entomopathogenic nematodes

It has been demonstrated that an entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema feltiae that only infect and kill their insect host but it can also be attracted to the cues released from the slug cadavers suggesting that entomopathogenic nematodes can feed on carcasses of other organisms (Nermut et al., 2012).

Read following literature on scavenging behavior and entomopathogenic nematodes

Baur, M.E., Kaya, H.K. and Strong, D.R. 1998. Foraging ants as scavengers on entomopathogenic nematode-killed insects. Biological Control 12: 231-236.

Foltan, P. and Puza, V. 2009. To complete their life cycle, pathogenic nematode-bacteria complexes deter scavengers from feeding on their host cadaver.  Behavioural Processes 80: 76-79.

Nermut, J., Puza, V. and Mracek, Z. 2012.  The response of Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) and Steinernema feltiae (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) to different host-associated cues. Biological Control 61: 201-206.

Puza, V. and Mracek, Z. 2010.   Does scavenging extend the host range of entomopathogenic nematodes (Nematoda: Steinernematidae)?  Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 104: 1-3

San-Blas, E. and Gowen, S.R. 2008.   Facultative scavenging as a survival strategy of entomopathogenic nematodes. International Journal for Parasitology 38: 85-91.

San-Blas, E. and Gowen, S.R. and Pembroke, B. 2008.  Scavenging or infection? Possible host choosing by entomopathogenic nematodes. Nematology 10: 251-259.

Temperature influences the virulence of beneficial nematodes against mustard beetles

Interaction between entomopathogenic nematodes and mustard beetles- Nematodeinformation It has been demonstrated that the virulence of Heterorhabditis indica and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora against the pupae of mustard beetle, Phaedon cochleariae was high at 30^oC but the virulence of Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema feltiae was high at 25^oC (Mahar et al., 2012).

Literature:

Mahar, A.N., Jan, N.D. and Mahar, A.Q. 2012.  Comparative effectiveness of entomopathogenic nematodes against the pupae of mustard beetle, Phaedon cochleariae F. (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera). Pakistan Journal of Zoology 44: 517-523.

A new entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis atacamensis from Chile

An entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabditis atacamensis- Nematode Information New entomopathogenic nematode species was found in the soil collected from Atacama Desert in Chile and was named after Atacama Desert as Heterorhabditis atacamensis. I like the way nematode taxonomists (Edgington et al., 2011) used individual morphological characteristics to differentiate this new species from other morphologically similar species of entomopathogenic nematodes. For example, these researchers showed that the H. atacamensis differed from H. marelatus, H. downesi and H. amazonensis based on position of hemizonid (a nematode sensory organ), position of excretory pore and female tail terminus shape, and number and position of genital papillae, respectively.  Using molecular techniques, Edgington et al. (2011) were also able to distinguish H. atacamensis from closely related entomopathogenic nematode species, H. safricana.

 Research Paper

Edgington, S., Buddie, A. G., Moore, D., France, A., Merino, L. and Hunt, D. J. 2011. Heterorhabditis atacamensis n. sp (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae), a new entomopathogenic nematode from the Atacama Desert, Chile. Journal of Helminthology 85: 381-394.

Entomopathogenic nematodes for the control of wireworm, Agriotes lineatus

Entomopathogenic nematodes and Wireworms, Agriotes lineatus- Nematode Information Wireworm, Agriotes lineatus cause a tremendous loss to potato yields throughout the world. As biological control agent, entomopathogenic nematodes can serve as a safe alternative to chemical pesticides in managing wireworms and helping to increase potato yields.  It has been shown that the entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora can cause over 67% mortality of wireworm, Agriotes lineatus within three weeks of application (Ansari et al., 2009).

Literature

Ansari, M.A., Evans, M. and Butt, T.M. 2009. Identification of pathogenic strains of entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi for wireworm control. Crop Protection 28: 269-272.