Entomopathogenecity of nematode Panagrolaimus spp. (Rhabditida: Panagrolaimidae) against lepidopteran pest Spodoptera litura

Abstract

Agricultural pests cause huge loss to agricultural production. Their control using biopesticides is gaining importance. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are most promising biopesticides in agriculture. EPN like other biopesticides has a very specific action on one species or related species as against chemical insecticides. In addition, the median lethal time for EPNs is also lower. Hence there is a need for novel virulent EPN which is effective against wide range of insects and has a low median lethal dose. In this study, we isolated different strains of EPN using modified insect bait method from 10 different soil samples. Six nematode strains were isolated and tested for pathogenicity against Spodoptera litura egg, larvae, and pupae. Agricultural corn field (AC) strain showed very high virulence against other strains. AC strain 18S rDNA sequencing was done and phylogenetic tree constructed to evaluate its relatedness to other species. The AC strains were identified as Panagrolaimus spp. and the sequence was submitted to Genbank. This species was found to be very effective against all the developmental stages of S. litura

Keywords:

• Biological control
• pest management
• insect pest
• bioprospecting
• parasite

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the Department of Biotechnology, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, for providing the infrastructural facility for carrying out this research work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.