Ecological aspects of an isolate of Steinernema diaprepesi (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) from Argentina

Ecological aspects of Steinernema diaprepesi isolate SRC were studied to evaluate the species potential as biological control agent of insect pests. Under laboratory 15 conditions, the following aspects were determined: the nematode life cycle, pathogenicity to several arthropods, reproductive capac...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: del Valle, Eleodoro Eduardo, Balbi, Emilia Inés, Lax, Paola, Rondán Dueñas, Juan, Doucet, Marcelo Edmundo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/8014
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/8014
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Steinernema Diaprepesi
Entomopathogenic Nematode
Ecology
Biological Control
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/4.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/4
Descripción
Sumario:Ecological aspects of Steinernema diaprepesi isolate SRC were studied to evaluate the species potential as biological control agent of insect pests. Under laboratory 15 conditions, the following aspects were determined: the nematode life cycle, pathogenicity to several arthropods, reproductive capacity, tolerance to desiccation, effect of temperature on survival and infectivity of infective juveniles (IJs), and influence of soil texture and soil water potential on the isolate. The parasitic cycle on last-instar larvae of Galleria mellonella at 25°C was completed 8 days after infection. The nematode showed high virulence to lepidopteran larvae, being limited or nil in the remaining orders of arthropods evaluated. An acceptable offspring production of S. diaprepesi was confirmed in the species G. mellonella and S. frugiperda, suggesting that the isolate would have potential for control of lepidopteran larvae. Optimum temperature for reproduction was 20?25°C. IJs survived exposure to a range of temperatures between 10 and 40°C, with a significant reduction in the number of live IJs at 40°C. The nematodes remained infective at 20?40°C. IJ mortality was 100% on day 6 of exposure to 85% RH. The movement of IJs observed in the soil column experiments revealed that the isolate uses a cruiser-type search strategy. Soil texture and water potential significantly influenced IJ movement, search and penetration of G. mellonella larvae. The efficacy of this isolate was found to be favoured in sandy soils, regardless of the soil water potential.