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Latest Research on Biological Control of Pests and Crop Protection
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Latest Research on Biological Control of Pests and Crop Protection

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 6605

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Rafael Alcalá Herrera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agronomy, ETSIAM, University of Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Edificio C4 Celestino Mutis, 14071 Cordoba, Spain
Interests: crop protection; entomology; conservation biological control; habitat manipulation; organic management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The expansion and intensification of agricultural practices has had negative impacts on the environment, which has led to landscape simplification, agrochemical spill in soil and water, and loss of biodiversity. A shift towards an ecosystem-based approach to agriculture has been proposed. Interest in biological control has increased in recent years, along with the pressure to reduce the use of pesticides due to their negative effects on the environment and human health. There are three approaches to biological control in the field—importation, augmentation, and conservation of natural enemies, such as predators and, parasitoids, and entomopathogens. These techniques might be used alone or in combination in integrated pest management programs. Furthermore, there are other strategies which can be used to protect crops, against disease and weed control. The intention of this Special Issue is to highlight recent research on the sustainable biological control of pests and crop protection in perennial, annual, or greenhouse crops. We welcome original research articles and review articles focusing on the latest advancements in the biological control of pests and crop protection.

Dr. Rafael Alcalá Herrera
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biological control
  • arthropods and entomopathogens
  • crop protection
  • disease
  • weed control

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3044 KiB  
Article
Immune Responses and Transcriptomic Analysis of Nilaparvata lugens against Metarhizium anisopliae YTTR Mediated by Rice Ragged Stunt Virus
by Xuewen Li, Bang Zhang, Jiaxing Zou, Qianqian Li, Jianli Liu, Shouping Cai, Komivi Senyo Akutse, Minsheng You and Sheng Lin
Plants 2023, 12(2), 345; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12020345 - 11 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1346
Abstract
Plant viruses and entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) can both elicit immune responses in insects. This study was designed to clarify whether plant viruses could affect the efficacy of EPF and explore the immune responses of brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, in response to different [...] Read more.
Plant viruses and entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) can both elicit immune responses in insects. This study was designed to clarify whether plant viruses could affect the efficacy of EPF and explore the immune responses of brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, in response to different pathogen infections. In this study, a strain of Metarhizium anisopliae YTTR with high pathogenicity against BPH was selected and explored whether rice ragged stunt virus (RRSV) could affect its lethality against BPH. RNA-seq was used to detect the inner responses of BPH in response to RRSV and M. anisopliae YTTR infection. Results showed that M. anisopliae YTTR has strong lethality against BPH (RRSV-carrying and RRSV-free). RRSV invasion did not affect the susceptibility of BPH against M. anisopliae YTTR at all concentrations. At 1 × 108 spores/mL, M. anisopliae YTTR caused a cumulative mortality of 80% to BPH at 7 days post-treatment. The largest numbers of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was obtained in BPH treated with the two pathogens than in other single pathogen treatment. In addition, KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs were mostly enriched in immune and physiological mechanisms-related pathways. Both RRSV and M. anisopliae YTTR could induce the expression changes of immune-related genes. However, most of the immune genes had varying expression patterns in different treatment. Our findings demonstrated that RRSV invasion did not have any significant effect on the pathogenicity of M. anisopliae YTTR, while the co-infection of M. anisopliae YTTR and RRSV induced more immune and physiological mechanisms -related genes’ responses. In addition, the presence of RRSV could render the interplay between BPH and M. anisopliae YTTR more intricate. These findings laid a basis for further elucidating the immune response mechanisms of RRSV-mediated BPH to M. anisopliae infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Research on Biological Control of Pests and Crop Protection)
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17 pages, 1593 KiB  
Article
Vegetation Cover Management and Landscape Plant Species Composition Influence the Chrysopidae Community in the Olive Agroecosystem
by Rafael Alcalá Herrera, Antonio García-Fuentes, María Eugenia Ramos-Font, Mª Luisa Fernández-Sierra and Francisca Ruano
Plants 2022, 11(23), 3255; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233255 - 27 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1340
Abstract
Habitat manipulation through the promotion of semi-natural habitats such as cover and patch vegetation is a possible means of offsetting the negative impacts of the agricultural practices. A baseline situation is crucial before any successful habitat manipulation is attempted. We studied the effects [...] Read more.
Habitat manipulation through the promotion of semi-natural habitats such as cover and patch vegetation is a possible means of offsetting the negative impacts of the agricultural practices. A baseline situation is crucial before any successful habitat manipulation is attempted. We studied the effects that current vegetation cover management practices have on plant composition and the potential attraction that the plant families from the semi-natural habitats could have on the Chrysopidae community, a key pest control agent, in five olive farms in Granada (Spain). Vegetation cover was assessed using a point quadrat methodology in eight transects per farm. In addition, the patch vegetation was characterized with 60 transects using a line intercept methodology. The woody patch vegetation and olive tree canopies were vacuumed using a field aspirator to collect adult Chrysopidae. In the cover vegetation we observed great variability in both the richness and diversity of plant communities caused by the vegetation cover management techniques and the transect position (in the middle of the rows or beneath the tree canopy). The plant families with the greatest plant cover were the Asteraceae and Fabaceae, where Asteraceae was favoured by tillage and Fabaceae by grazing, while in the patch vegetation, the predominant families were the Rosaceae and Fagaceae. Our results indicate that the genus Chrysoperla was mostly correlated with the Plantaginaceae, Brassicaceae and Asteraceae plant families in the cover vegetation, and with the Caryophyllaceae and Rosaceae families in the patch vegetation. The genera Apertochrysa and Pseudomallada were associated with the families Malvaceae and Poaceae in the cover vegetation, and with the families Cupressaceae, Poaceae and Pinaceae in the patch vegetation. Our study shows to the farmers the possibilities of vegetation cover management to select plant families for the cover vegetation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Research on Biological Control of Pests and Crop Protection)
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18 pages, 1478 KiB  
Article
Sesame as an Alternative Host Plant to Establish and Retain Predatory Mirids in Open-Field Tomatoes
by Jose Castillo, Amy Roda, Jawwad Qureshi, Meritxell Pérez-Hedo, Alberto Urbaneja and Philip Stansly
Plants 2022, 11(20), 2779; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11202779 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1771
Abstract
The silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and the South America tomato pinworm (Tuta absoluta) are two of the most destructive pests of tomato. Open-field tomato production frequently relies on chemical treatments, which has been shown to lead to pesticide resistance. [...] Read more.
The silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and the South America tomato pinworm (Tuta absoluta) are two of the most destructive pests of tomato. Open-field tomato production frequently relies on chemical treatments, which has been shown to lead to pesticide resistance. The integration of biological control using predatory mirid bugs is an effective alternative method for managing these pests. However, methods to establish and maintain populations of zoophytophagous mirids are not adequately described. We explored the potential use of two mirids naturally occurring in Florida, Nesidiocoris tenuis and Macrolophus praeclarus. We conducted 6 field experiments over 4 consecutive years to develop a strategy to maintain the mirids. Pre-plant inoculation of tomato plants did not lead to their establishment, likely due to the low prevalence of prey. We explored the use of sesame (Sesamum indicum) to retain the mirids. Intercropping sesame maintained the populations of N. tenuis throughout the duration of the crop. Macrolophus praeclarus never established in any of the open-field experiments. Nesidiocoris tenuis damage was minimal (<1 necrotic ring/plant) and mirid damage was reduced in the presence of sesame. Our results show that intercropping sesame may provide a means to utilize mirids to manage B. tabaci, an established pest, and provide options to tomato growers should T. absoluta invade USA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Research on Biological Control of Pests and Crop Protection)
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12 pages, 894 KiB  
Article
Effect of Relative Humidity on the Population Dynamics of the Predator Amblyseius swirskii and Its Prey Carpoglyphus lactis in the Context of Slow-Release Sachets for Use in Biological Control in Greenhouses
by Yohan Solano-Rojas, Juan R. Gallego, Manuel Gamez, Inmaculada Lopez, Patricia Castillo and Tomas Cabello
Plants 2022, 11(19), 2493; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11192493 - 23 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1459
Abstract
Amblyseius swirskii is a predatory mite that is widely used for biological control in greenhouses. One way this predator is released is in a formulation in slow-release sachets. These sachets are prepared with the predatory mite, the factitious prey mite Carpoglyphus lactis, [...] Read more.
Amblyseius swirskii is a predatory mite that is widely used for biological control in greenhouses. One way this predator is released is in a formulation in slow-release sachets. These sachets are prepared with the predatory mite, the factitious prey mite Carpoglyphus lactis, and a food substrate for the latter. The objective of the present study was to study the effects of microclimatic conditions in this type of formulation on the population dynamics of mites inside the sachets and on the release of predatory mites. These experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions in two trials. The ambient relative humidity affected the water content of the food substrate of the prey mite inside the sachets, with an initial value of 21.49 ± 0.42%, which was reduced to values of 4.7 ± 0.25%, 10.87 ± 1.03% and 17.27 ± 0.82% after 21 days of trials when they were exposed to low, medium and high ambient relative humidity levels, respectively. Relative humidity significantly altered the dynamics of the populations of both species inside the sachets and the exits of the predator from the sachets to the external environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Research on Biological Control of Pests and Crop Protection)
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