Potential shortfalls of using entomopathogenic fungi for boosting the sterile insect technique to control the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis
2025
Diop, Samba | Brévault, Thierry | Dosso, Fatime | Ahmad, Sohel | Deletre, Emilie | Fellous, Simon | Chailleux, Anaïs | Fonctionnement agroécologique et performances des systèmes de cultures horticoles (UPR HORTSYS) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | BIOPASS, ISRA-UCAD ; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Ouest]) | Agroécologie et intensification durables des cultures annuelles (UPR AIDA) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Département Performances des systèmes de production et de transformation tropicaux (Cirad-PERSYST) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Joint FAO/IAEA Programme - Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture ; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [Rome, Italie] (FAO)-International Atomic Energy Agency [Vienna] (IAEA) | International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) | Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro Montpellier ; Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Université de Montpellier (UM) | This work was carried out with the financial support of a Long-term EU-Africa research and innovation Partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable Agriculture (LEAP-Agri), Pest-Free Fruit project, in the framework of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant agreement No 727715. It was also supported by Cirad funding for Ph.D. students (AI1). The authors also thank Real IPM (Kenya) for providing the spores.
International audience
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]英语. Entomovectoring relies on the dissemination of biocides by insects to control plant pests and diseases. Current research aims at coupling entomovectoring with the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Such boosted-SIT is a promising technique to control the Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera, Tephritidae), an invasive pest that dooms African and Asian fruit-producers and is invading Europe. Here, we investigated empirically the potential of boosting the SIT using spores of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae. Laboratory bioassay confirmed the transmission potential of the fungus from inoculated males to males and females, with subsequent reductions in survival and fecundity. Inoculation, like sterility, nonetheless reduced male mating success. Semi-field tests (i.e., large outdoor cages) revealed greater costs of fungal inoculation on male competitivity than observed in the laboratory. Combined with effects of inoculation on male survival, these costs led to a lower reduction in female reproduction in the presence of inoculated sterile males compared to plain sterile males. As tested here, boosting the SIT with M. anisoplae spores to control B. dorsalis could reduce its efficacy. The encouraging transmission patterns, however, suggest that technical improvements may render the boosted-SIT effective in some, if not all, ecological contexts.
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