Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Dataset Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
PANGAEA
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.831939 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Table of Contents:
- Endophytic fungi, which live within host plant tissues without causing any visible symptom of infection, are important mutualists that mediate plant-herbivore interactions. Thrips tabaci (Lindeman) is one of the key pests of onion, Allium cepa L., an economically important agricultural crop cultivated worldwide. However, information on endophyte colonization of onions and their impacts on the biology of thrips feeding on them are lacking. We tested the colonization of onion plants by selected fungal endophyte isolates with two inoculation methods. The effects of inoculated endophytes on T. tabaci infesting onion were also examined. Seven fungal endophytes used in our study were able to colonize onion plants either by seed or seedling inoculation methods. Seed inoculation yielded 1.47 times higher mean percentage post-inoculation recovery of all the endophytes tested at (48.48 ± 8.1) as compared to seedling inoculation (32.87 ± 5.5). The lowest thrips numbers were recorded in Hypocrea lixii F3ST1 (1.6 ± 0.6) colonized plants as compared to the control (9.5 ± 1.5). Onion plants colonized by Clonostachys rosea ICIPE 707, Trichoderma asperellum M2RT4, Trichoderma atroviride ICIPE 710, and H. lixii F3ST1 had significantly lower feeding punctures as compared to the other treatments. Lowest number of eggs were laid by T. tabaci on H. lixii F3ST1 (1.5 ± 0.6) treatments followed by C. rosea ICIPE 707 and T. harzianum ICIPE 709 as compared to the control (18.6 ± 2.2). The number of feeding punctures and eggs were positively correlated (r = 0.805, d.f. = 30, P < 0.001). These results extend the knowledge on colonization of onions by fungal endophytes and their effects on Thrips tabaci.