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Fungus sunscreen expands control of pests
September 1, 2010 By Fruit & Vegetable
August 31, 2010 – Scientists recently had an
opportunity to describe the development and successful initial testing of a
substance that acts as a sunscreen for the microscopic spores of a fungus,
brightening prospects for wider use of the fungus as a means of wiping out
insect pests that attack food crops.
August 31, 2010 – Scientists recently had an
opportunity to describe the development and successful initial testing of a
substance that acts as a sunscreen for the microscopic spores of a fungus,
brightening prospects for wider use of the fungus as a means of wiping out
insect pests that attack food crops.
“Our finding is especially
important for the environment because improving the effectiveness of biological
control treatments like this will help to reduce dependence on chemical
pesticides,” said team leader Robert W. Behle, Ph.D.
Behle explained that the
fungus – Beauveria bassiana – shows great promise as a biological control
agent, one that does not use conventional pesticides and poses little threat to
people, animals, beneficial insects, or the environment. He is with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. The problem,
however, is that B. bassiana’s spores are vulnerable to sunlight. Insecticides
based on the fungus contain the spores in a liquid that can be sprayed onto
crops. The spores germinate into the actual fungus, which infects and kills a
range of destructive insect pests.
“To protect the fungus, we
used soyscreen oil, bio-based UV-absorbing molecules made by combining
molecules of soybean oil with ferulic acid,” Behle explained. “The spores
survive quite well in oil-based formulations. We found that soyscreen had no
harmful effects on the fungus spores stored in the oil for 28 weeks. Most
important, the soyscreen successfully protected the spores from degrading when
exposed to sunlight.”
The study was among nearly
8,000 scientific reports scheduled presented during a recent meeting of the
American Chemical Society.
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