Pathogenic and enzyme activities of the entomopathogenic fungus Tolypocladium cylindrosporum (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

SCORSETTI A.C., ELÍADES L.A., STENGLEIN S.A., CABELLO M.N., PELIZZA S.A., SAPARRAT M.C.N

REVISTA DE BIOLOGíA TROPICAL

REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA TROPICAL

Año: 2012 vol. 60 p. 833 - 841

0034-7744

Tolypocladium cylindrosporum is an entomopathogenic representative of its genus that has been studied as a biological control agent against several orders of insects. The fungus has been isolated from the soil as well as from insects of the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. In this work, we found and characterized by traditional and molecular methods an isolate of this fungus from a soil sample collected in the Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), the southernmost region of the world. We also evaluated the ability of this fungus to produce hydrolytic enzymes and the relationship of the latter to the fungus´s pathogenicity against aphids as a potential biocontrol agent for those insects at different incubation temperatures. In pathogenicity assays at seven days postinoculation the fungus caused the mortality of adults of Ropalosiphum padi at different temperatures and also showed a broad ability to grow on several agar-culture media supplemented with different carbon sources at the three incubation temperatures tested. Because of its origin and temperature tolerance, this Argentine isolate has great potential for use as a biocontrol agent in cold, temperate environments.