Science has made great achievements in agriculture in recent years.
Until not too long ago, the best method to keep at bay pest-causing insects in agriculture it was the use of chemical compounds They were equally damaging to the farmer who used them and, ultimately, to people living nearby.
Therefore, the discovery of methods totally natural To control pests has been great news in the area of agriculture. There are many examples, being the Bt toxin, which we already told you about long ago, one of the best known, although today we are going to talk about another case that, despite not being as well known as this toxin, gives rise to equally good results, so that little by little Soon its use begins to expand throughout Farmlands.
Verticillium lecanii, the fungus that ends with insect pests
Verticillium lecanii is a entomopathogenic fungus of asexual reproduction, belonging to the order Moniliales. It consists of different strains, which have a very wide range of hosts, although it does not necessarily act as an obligate parasite, since it can also live on saproftica form, on dry organic matter.
As for their spores, they can survive for very long periods of time, both on land and in aerated liquids.
Mechanism of action of Verticillium lecanii in pest control
Its ability to parasitize insects has been used by farmers in the pest control as important as himWhitefly and AphidBut how do they do it?
Its mechanism of action is by contact. The moment the spore comes into contact with the insect, it adheres to its cuticleactivating chitinases, lipases and proteases, which will facilitate your entry through it. Once inside, the spore begins to germinate, giving rise to hyphae of the fungus, which will spread throughout the hemolymph of its prey.
As the invasion, a large number of toxic compounds, how anhydrous phenylalanine, dipicolnic acid or hydroxycarboxylic acids, that end up causing it insect death, without causing any kind of detrimental effect on the plant leaves and neither in humans, birds, fish or mammals.
So saying all this sounds very cruel, it is true, but let’s not forget that traditional pesticides do exactly the same, with the difference that they are also polluting and dangerous for us; therefore, when choosing one, these types of alternatives are the best option.
Realize that these procedures take place in nature and we simply use them for the development of activities as necessary as agriculture. Now it is necessary to make all farmers aware of the importance of this type of alternative; so that someday we can discard the traditional methods.
Images: Naro University of Hawaii
