Entomopathogenic fungi and their relevance in sustainable agriculture: A review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Infection and sporulation in host insect by entomopathogenic fungi (Modified from Sinha et al., (2016).

Figure 2. Effect of EPF on different host insects. (Adapted from Baron et al. (2019)).

Figure 3. Infection process of EPF. (Modified from Vega et al. (2012), Sandhu et al., (2012)).

Figure 4. Diagrammatic representation of infection steps by EPF. (Modified from Sinha et al. (2016)).

Figure 5. Multiplication of entomopathogens inside the body of host insect over time (Adapted from Kaya and Vega (2012)).

Table 1. Toxins produced by different entomopathogenic fungi (EPF)

S.N.	Toxin	Fungi	Structure	Function
1	Beauvericin	Beauveria bassiana	Cyclic lactone trimer of the amide of n- methyl 1-phenylalanine and D- α-hydroxy-isovaleucinol	Cytotoxic effect and insecticidal properties
2	Bassianolide	Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii	Cyclic polymers of amide N-methyl L-phenylleucinol	Acts as ionophore with toxic effects on insects
3	Destruxins	Metarhizium anisopliae	Cyclic depsipeptides consist of five amino acids and D- α-hydroxy acid	Immunodepressant activity
4	Bauverisin	Beauveria bassiana, Isaria sp.	Ionophore is soluble in lipid layers	Increasing membrane permeability for specific ions and damages the cell organelles and their functions.
5	Hirsutellin A	Hirsutella sp, H. thompsonii	The ribosomal inhibitory protein (RIP)	Causes a specific cleavage of the rRNA and inhibits protein synthesis.
6	Efrapeptins	Tolypocladium niveum (Beauveria nivea)	Linear peptides rich in α-aminobutyric acid (Aib)	Inhibitors of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and ATPase activity
7	Leucinostatins	Paecilomyces lilacinus, Paecilomyces manrquandii	Active compounds 2 (ZHAWOC6025) and 4 (ZHAWOC6027)	Cytotoxic effect and insecticidal properties
8	Azoksibensonoid	Entomophthorales	-	Various toxic effects
9	Viridoxins A and B	M. flavoviride	-	Cytotoxic effect and insecticidal properties
10	Sorodisepin	Cordyceps	-	Blocks RNA synthesis

(Modified from Sinha et al. (2016))

Table 2. Major EPF (Entomopathogenic Fungi) formulations at commercial scale globally

S.N.	Fungal Species	Target insect	Commercial Name	Formulation	Crop List
1	Beauveria bassiana, B. brongniartii	Insects (Mirid bugs, Pod borer, Coffee berry borer, White Grubs, White flies, Thrips, Aphids) and Mites, Sucking Insects, Psyllids, Whiteflies, Thrips, Aphids, Corn borers, Eucalyptus weevil, Coffee borer, and Whitefly	Mycotrol, Naturalis, Conidia, Botegha, Botanigrad, Ostrinil, Boveril, Koppert	Liquid formulation, Wettable powder, Suspensible granules, Microgranules of mycelium, Barley kernels coated with fungus	Cotton, glasshouse crops Coffee, field crops, Maize, Pepper, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Eggplants, pastures
2	Verticillium lecanii	Coccids, Aphids, Thrips, (Diptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and mites and in all the climatic regions)	Varunastra, Verticill, Simridhi, Vertimax, Shock, Biofire, S-Vertilec	Liquid formulation, Wettable powder	Vegetables like Tomatoes, Fruits trees, Coffee
3	Metarhizium anisopliae	Locust, Grasshopper, Flea beetle, Soil-dwelling stages of beetles, White grubs and Cutworms, Thrips (also pupae), Black vine weevil, Longhorn beetle, Termites, Grasshopper, Sugarcane root leafhopper, Cockroaches, Sciarid flies, Wireworm, Pepper weevil, Scarab larvae	BioBlast, Betel, MET52 EC, MET52 G	Conidia on a mycelium placed in a chamber/ trap	Sugarcane, ornamental crops, stored grains, Chilies, Bell peppers, Potato, Asparagus
4	Lecanicilium muscarium, L. Lecanii	Whitefly, thrips, Aphids	VERTALEC, MYCOTAL, VERTI-SIN	Liquid Formulation, Wettable powder	Peppers, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Eggplants, Field crops
5	Hirsutella sp, H. thompsonii	Mites	Almite, Agrilife Lancer	Liquid formulation, Wettable powder	Vegetable and Field crops

(Modified from Sinha et al. (2016), Sharma et al. (2021), and Altinok et al. (2019))

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