Effect of Trichoderma viride on rhizosphere microbial communities and biocontrol of soybean root rot.

Biological seed dressing is a cost-effective means to protect plant roots from pathogens. Trichoderma is generally considered as one of the most common biological seed dressings. However, there is still a dearth of information on the effects of Trichoderma on microbial community of rhizosphere soil. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the effects of Trichoderma viride and a chemical fungicide on microbial community of soybean rhizosphere soil. The results showed that both T. viride and chemical fungicide could significantly reduce the disease index of soybean (15.11% for Trichoderma and 17.33% for Chemical), while no significant difference was observed between them. Both T. viride and chemical fungicide could affect the structure of rhizosphere microbial community, they increased the ß-diversity of microbial community and significantly reduce the relative abundance of Saprotroph-Symbiotroph. Chemical fungicide could reduce the complexity and stability of co-occurrence network. However, T. viride is beneficial for maintaining network stability and increasing network complexity. There were 31 bacterial genera and 21 fungal genera significantly correlated with the disease index. Furthermore, several potential plant pathogenic microorganisms were also positively correlated with disease index, such as Fusarium, Aspergillus, Conocybe, Naganishia, and Monocillium. From this work, T. viride may be used as a substitute for chemical fungicide to control soybean root rot and be more friendly to soil microecology.

Two Microsatellite Types Within NAD6 Gene Help to Distinguish Populations and Infer the Migratory Route of the Invasive Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) in China.

Spodoptera frugiperda is a major agricultural pest that has invaded China since January 2019. Given that most of the individuals present in China carried the diagnostic rice-strain mtDNA (COI-RS), there was no efficient method to distinguish populations of S. frugiperda. In this study, we identified and characterized two variant microsatellite alleles in the mitochondrial NAD6 gene of S. frugiperda retrieved from the National Center for Biotechnology Center GenBank. We then sequenced partial NAD6 genes containing the microsatellite region and the diagnostic COI barcoding gene (used to distinguish the corn-strain and the rice-strain) of 429 invasive S. frugiperda individuals that were collected from the main infested regions in China during 2019-2020. Our data indicates that two kinds of interrupted repeat sequences, (ATA)4T(ATA)3 and (ATA)5T(ATA)3, exist in the microsatellite region which we defined as the deletion type (NAD6-D), and the insertion type (NAD6-I) based on the repeat units' differentiation, respectively. The presence of these two microsatellite types in the mtDNA genome of S. frugiperda was further confirmed with the sequencing results in 429 samples. Moreover, NAD6-I and NAD6-D types were both present in individuals with COI-RS, while only NAD6-D type was detected in the COI-CS individuals. Interestingly, the two microsatellite types suggested a possible geographic distribution: the western migratory route (Yunan and Chongqing) was comprised exclusively of NAD6-I type, while both NAD6-I and NAD6-D types were identified in the predicted eastern migration trajectories (Hainan, Guangxi, Shandong, etc.). These results suggested that NAD6-D and NAD6-I types may be useful in distinguishing between populations, analyzing the evolutionary mechanism of mtDNA microsatellite polymorphism, inferring the migratory route of S. frugiperda in China, and developing precise and integrated control strategies for S. frugiperda.

Quercetin interacts with Cry1Ac protein to affect larval growth and survival of Helicoverpa armigera.

BACKGROUND: Bt cotton has been widely planted in China for over a decade to control H. armigera, but field surveys indicate increasing resistance in the pest. It has been speculated that accumulating plant secondary compounds in mature cotton may interact with Bt toxins and affect the toxicity of Bt to H. armigera. RESULTS: Both quercetin, one of the main flavonoids in cotton, and the Bt toxin Cry1Ac protein had significant negative effects on the growth, development and survival of H. armigera when added singly to artificial diet, but their effects were inhibited when added in combination. Quercetin was antagonistic to Cry1Ac toxicity at all tested concentrations. CONCLUSION: The accumulation of quercetin might be one factor contributing to the reduced toxicity of mature Bt cotton plants to H. armigera, and could partially explain the reduced efficacy of Cry1Ac in controlling this pest in the field. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis toxin Cry1Ac and Beauveria bassiana on Asiatic corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).

In this study, interactions between Cry1Ac, a toxic crystal protein produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner), and Beauveria bassiana on the mortality and survival of Ostrinia furnacalis was evaluated in the laboratory. The results showed that Cry1Ac is toxic to O. furnacalis. Not only were larval growth and development delayed, but pupation, pupal weight and adult emergency also decreased when larvae were fed on artificial diet containing purified Cry1Ac toxin. When third instars O. furnacalis were exposed to combination of B. bassiana (1.8x10(5), 1.8x10(6) or 1.8x10(7) conidia ml(-1)) and Cry1Ac, (0.2 or 0.8 microg g(-1)), the effect on mortality was additive, however, the combinations of sublethal concentrations showed antagonism between Cry1Ac (3.2 or 13 microg g(-1)) and B. bassiana (1.8x10(5) or 1.8x10(6) conidia ml(-1)). When neonates were reared on sublethal concentrations of Cry1AC until the third instar, and survivors exposed B. bassiana conidial suspension, such treatments showed additive effect on mortality of O. furnacalis except for the combination of Cry1Ac (0.2 microg g(-1)) and B. bassiana (1.8x10(6) conidia ml(-1)) that showed antagonism.