First record of Aspergillus oryzae (Eurotiales: Trichocomaceae) as an entomopathogenic fungus of the locust,Locusta migratoria (Orthoptera: Acrididae) |
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Authors: | Pengfei Zhang Yinwei You Yuan Song Youzhi Wang |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Entomology, Key Lab for Biological Control, Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China;2. Bio-tech Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, P.R. China;3. Department of Microbiology &4. Immunology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P.R. China;5. Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China |
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Abstract: | A novel entomopathogenic fungus of Locusta migratoria was identified as Aspergillus oryzae using a comparative sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer regions, aflatoxin B1 detection and morphological analysis. The fungus isolated from a dead locust collected in northwestern China was found to be pathogenic to the insect. Phylogenetic experiments revealed a 99% similarity between the fungus and those of three species, A. oryzae, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parvisclerotigenus which are in the same branch of the Flavi section of the genus Aspergillus. Tests to detect aflatoxin B1 demonstrated that this fungus is a non-aflatoxin B1 producer, unlike A. parvisclerotigenus. Furthermore, morphological comparison with A. oryzae and A. flavus revealed that Aspergillus sp. XJ-1 belongs to A. oryzae, and named as A. oryzae XJ-1. The results of bioassays against third-instar locusts showed that mortality was dose-dependent and its median lethal concentrations were 3.3 × 108, 1.7 × 107 and 7.2 × 106 conidia/ml on the 10th-, 13th- and 15th-day post-inoculation. Therefore, the A. oryzae XJ-1 may have biocontrol potential against locusts. |
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Keywords: | entomopathogenic fungus Aspergillus oryzae locust biological control bioassay phylogenetic analysis |
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