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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298898
Title: Natural occurrence of entomophthoroid fungi (Entomophthoromycota) of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) of cereal crops in Argentina

Author
item MANFRINO, ROMINA - National Institute Of Agricultural Technology(INTA)
item HATTING, JUSTIN - Agricultural Research Council Of South Africa
item Humber, Richard
item SALTO, CESAR - National Institute Of Agricultural Technology(INTA)
item LOPEZ LASTRA, CLAUDIA - Center For Studies Of Parasites And Vectors, Cepave

Submitted to: Annals of Applied Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/27/2013
Publication Date: 11/12/2013
Citation: Manfrino, R.G., Hatting, J.L., Humber, R.A., Salto, C.E., Lopez Lastra, C.C. 2013. Natural occurrence of entomophthoroid fungi (Entomophthoromycota) of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) of cereal crops in Argentina. Annals of Applied Biology. 164:151-158.

Interpretive Summary: This paper describes Argentinean flora of fungi pathogenic to insects, in this case to agriculturally important aphid pests affecting wheat, oats, and sorghum at six sites in Argentina. The fungi studied here are all entomophthoroid pathogens from the recently described phylum Entomophthoromycota, and are among the most common and important fungal pathogens affecting aphids throughout the world. Seasonal occurrences of these individual species vary, as do their apparent virulences for particular host species. This study helps to establish a base-line knowledge of these fungal pathogens affecting cereal crops in this country, and are broadly applicable for other cereal-producing countries around the world.

Technical Abstract: The spectrum of entomophthoroid fungal species parasitizing aphids of cereal crops and a study of the phenology and prevalence of these pathogens was investigated in Argentina. The studies were conducted at six different sites cultivated with crops of Triticum aestivum L. (wheat), Avena sativa L. (oats) and Sorghum bicolor L. Moench (sorghum) during two consecutive years. Entomopathogenic fungi from the new phylum Entomophthoromycota were recorded from six aphid species on cereals in Argentina: Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus), Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominalis (Sasaki), Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) and Sipha maydis Passerini. Three species of entomophthoroid fungi were found infecting these aphid species: Pandora neoaphidis (Remaudière & Hennebert) Humber, Zoophthora radicans (Brefeld) Batko (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae) and Neozygites fresenii (Nowakowski) Remaudière & Keller (Neozygitales: Neozygitaceae). Entomophthoroid fungal infections occurred mostly in autumn-winter seasons (March-August), and coincided with periods of high relative humidity and comparatively low temperatures. This study represents the first base-line characterization of entomophthoroid fungi infecting aphids on cereal crops in Argentina.