Comparative efficacy of endophytic versus foliar application of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana against the crucifer diamondback moth larvae for sustainable cabbage protection

Abstract

In recent investigations, Beauveria bassiana has been reported to be pathogenic to insect, endophytically colonize cabbage plants and may, therefore, be an alternative to chemical control of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. In this study, the comparative efficacy of endophytic and foliar application of B. bassiana was assessed on different larval instars of P. xylostella. Cabbage plants were inoculated with B. bassiana conidia using seed coating and root soaking methods. Six weeks after plant endophytic inoculation, larval instars 2, 3 and 4 of P. xylostella were released on endophytic plant leaves without fungal spraying, on non-endophytic leaves sprayed immediately with fungal formulation and on untreated control leaves. Our results indicate that the average mortality rates of larval instars 2, 3 and 4 were significantly higher (P < 0.0001) on plants colonized by the endophyte than non-inoculated, untreated control plant. Similarly, significant differences were obtained between the foliar spraying of the fungus (corrected mortalities ≥ 96.72%) and the endophytic applications (corrected mortalities ≤ 57.61 %). In endophytic treatments, larval mortality rates varied with larval age. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of B. bassiana endophytism in cabbage.

Keywords: Fungal endophyte, foliar application, cabbage plant, Plutella xylostella, larval mortality, cadaver sporulation.