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. 2020 Dec 17;10(1):22195.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78898-8.

Endophytic fungi protect tomato and nightshade plants against Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) through a hidden friendship and cryptic battle

Ayaovi Agbessenou  1   2 , Komivi S Akutse  3 , Abdullahi A Yusuf  2   4 , Sunday Ekesi  1 , Sevgan Subramanian  1 , Fathiya M Khamis  1
Affiliations

Endophytic fungi protect tomato and nightshade plants against Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) through a hidden friendship and cryptic battle

Ayaovi Agbessenou et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Endophytic fungi live within plant tissues without causing any harm to the host, promote its growth, and induce systemic resistance against pests and diseases. To mitigate the challenging concealed feeding behavior of immature stages of Tuta absoluta in both tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and nightshade (Solanum scabrum) host plants, 15 fungal isolates were assessed for their endophytic and insecticidal properties. Twelve isolates were endophytic to both host plants with varied colonization rates. Host plants endophytically-colonized by Trichoderma asperellum M2RT4, Beauveria bassiana ICIPE 706 and Hypocrea lixii F3ST1 outperformed all the other isolates in reducing significantly the number of eggs laid, mines developed, pupae formed and adults emerged. Furthermore, the survival of exposed adults and F1 progeny was significantly reduced by Trichoderma sp. F2L41 and B. bassiana isolates ICIPE 35(4) and ICIPE 35(15) compared to other isolates. The results indicate that T. asperellum M2RT4, B. bassiana ICIPE 706 and H. lixii F3ST1 have high potential to be developed as endophytic-fungal-based biopesticide for the management of T. absoluta.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Endophytic colonization of tomato Solanum lycopersicum (A) and nightshade Solanum scabrum (B) host plant parts by 15 fungal isolates at 4–5 weeks post-inoculation. Bar chart represents means ± SE (standard error) at 95% CI (P < 0.05; n = 4).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of endophytically-colonized host plants by fungal isolates on survival of adult Tuta absoluta: (A) Kaplan–Meier survival curves of Tuta absoluta adults exposed to endophytically-colonized tomato plants, (B) Kaplan–Meier survival curves of Tuta absoluta adults exposed to endophytically-colonized nightshade plants (P < 0.05, n = 4).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of endophytically-colonized host plants by fungal isolates on oviposition and leafmining of Tuta absoluta at 48 h post-exposure. (A) Bar chart showing mean number (± SE) of Tuta absoluta eggs laid on endophytically-colonized tomato plants. (B) Bar chart showing mean number (± SE) of mines produced by Tuta absoluta on endophytically-colonized tomato plants. (C) Bar chart showing mean number (± SE) of Tuta absoluta eggs laid on endophytically-colonized nightshade plants. (D) Bar chart showing mean number (± SE) of mines produced by Tuta absoluta on endophytically-colonized nightshade plants. Means followed by a different lowercase letters are significantly different (P < 0.05; n = 4; Tukey’s HSD test).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of endophytically-colonized host plants by fungal isolates on Tuta absoluta pupation and adult emergence. (A) Bar chart showing mean number (± SE) of Tuta absoluta pupae produced on endophytically-colonized tomato plants. (B) Bar chart showing mean number of Tuta absoluta adults emerging from endophytically-colonized tomato plants. (C) Bar chart showing mean number (± SE) of Tuta absoluta pupae produced on endophytically-colonized nightshade plants. (D) Bar chart showing mean number of Tuta absoluta adults emerging from endophytically-colonized nightshade plants. Means followed by a different lowercase letters are significantly different (P < 0.05; n = 4; Tukey’s HSD test).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of endophytically-colonized host plants by fungal isolates on Tuta absoluta F1 progenies survival. (A) Kaplan–Meier survival curves of Tuta absoluta F1 progenies survival emerging from endophytically-colonized tomato plants. (B) Kaplan–Meier survival curves of Tuta absoluta F1 progenies survival emerging from endophytically-colonized nightshade plants (P < 0.05, n = 4).
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