Entomopathogenic and Nematophagous Fungal Endophytes
Biological control agents have received a considerable amount of attention as alternatives to chemicals for the development of new control methods but also due to the disparate ecological niches occupied by them. Entomopathogenic (EF) and nematophagous fu
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Entomopathogenic and Nematophagous Fungal Endophytes Enrique Quesada-Moraga, Noemí Herrero, and Íñigo Zabalgogeazcoa
Abstract
Biological control agents have received a considerable amount of attention as alternatives to chemicals for the development of new control methods but also due to the disparate ecological niches occupied by them. Entomopathogenic (EF) and nematophagous fungi (NF) enter their hosts directly via the cuticle or natural openings, what makes them attractive agents for biological pest control. These fungi have been traditionally viewed simply as animal predators, but recent studies show that a considerable number of fungal pathogens of invertebrates have an endophytic phase in their life cycles. Several taxa of EF and NF have been identified as naturally occurring endophytes and could be artificially inoculated in agricultural plant species. In addition, symbioses with some endophytic species positively affect plant growth and resistance against fungal pathogens. These additional ecological roles give a new perspective to the study of these organisms, because they are part of tritrophic interactions where plants, invertebrates, and fungi are closely involved. Understanding fungal-plant, fungal-pest, fungal-pathogen, and fungal-plant-pest interactions, plus the role of fungal viruses, that infect EF, could lead to the development of novel integrated crop production and protection tools.
E. Quesada-Moraga (*) Department of Agricultural and Forest Science and Resources, University of Córdoba (UCO), CeiA3, Campus de Rabanales, P.O. Box 3048, 14080 Córdoba, Spain e-mail: [email protected] N. Herrero Department of Plant Virology, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Í. Zabalgogeazcoa Department of Abiotic Stress, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Salamanca (IRNASACSIC), P.O. Box 257, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
V.C. Verma and A.C. Gange (eds.), Advances in Endophytic Research, DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1575-2_4, © Springer India 2014
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Introduction
The advent of chemical insecticides in the mid-twentieth century led to the idea that invertebrate pests could be completely eliminated from crops. Since then, a succession of compounds with insecticidal and nematicidal activity has been developed. Many early chemical pesticides were toxic and environmentally damaging; however, in recent years, due to an increase in public sensitivity toward environmental pollution and problems derived from the side effects of early materials, alternative benign insecticides were developed. Arising from the idea of sustainable agriculture and its main tool, integrated pest management, as well as the notion of organic farming, there now exists a demand for crop protection strategies more compatible with these principles, which are adopted by the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Community (EC) and its member states (i.e., Directive 2009/128/EC). As a prelude of this directive, E
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