Mycobiota associated to the ambrosia beetle Megaplatypus mutatus threat to worldwide poplar plantations

CERIANI, ESTEBAN; SLODOWICZ,M.; GONZALES AUDINO; C. C. CARMARAN

Bariloche

Congreso; IUFRO. A Global Perspective on the Ecology and Management of Bark and Wood Boring Insects; 2015

IUFRO

Megaplatypus mutatus (syn. Platypus sulcatus), an ambrosia beetle native to South America, is one of the main forest pests in Argentina and an emergent foreign pest in Europe, representing a potential risk to forest and fruit plantations due to its low specificity. Special attention has been given to poplar plantations as a results of the economic impact. This ambrosia beetle attacks live trees producing multiple attacks per tree triggering a structural weakening and eventually causes the breakdown of the shaft; especially when weather conditions are unfavorable. While these organizations seem to have an essential role in the proper establishment and development of the insect, there are few systematic studies that characterize the fungus-M. mutatus relationship. In this frame, two plantations were sampled where we studied the fungal community of a total of 32 attacked trees, by evaluating 1454 gallery fragments of wood and 110 fragments of insects. Fungal isolates were morphologically identified and phylogenetic analyses were conducted. Additionally, the topology of the galleries is described, based on analyses with Computed Tomography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. To enhance the information provided by both techniques, an image combining both techniques was generated. The impacts of the obtained results in the frame of the pathogenic system are discussed.