Bioprospección de entomopatógenos en gonipterus sp. presentes en plantaciones forestales del género eucalyptus de la Empresa Novopan del Ecuador

Abstract

The research proposed carrying out a bioprospecting or search for entomopathogens in the introduced pest Eucalyptus weevil (Gonipterus sp.), present in forest plantations of the genus Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) of the company Novopan del Ecuador. The collection of parasitized insects was recorded in the province of Imbabura, in two different farms of the Novopan properties: Pisangacho farm, San Miguel de Urcuquí canton, and La Magdalena Farm, Ibarra city. Within the first objective, two isolation methodologies were proposed to obtain a potential for possible entomopathogenic fungi. The first methodology consisted of isolating morphotypes through serial dilutions, where the parasitized entomological samples were submerged in saline solution and divided into: mother solution - dilution 10-1, and the second methodology was based on isolating morphotypes directly from the mycelium covered in the parasitized insects; the results of these two isolation methodologies were placed in an incubator at a temperature of 26 °C for 15 days; For the second objective, only the results of the direct isolation methodology were characterized: culturally, morphologically and molecularly. Thanks to these two isolation methodologies, varieties of morphotypes were observed. However, the best method was the isolation by serial dilutions with 611 fungi. In comparison, the direct isolation methodology had a total of 6 fungi, these being six fungi according to their cultural, morphological and molecular characterization: Fusarium (Fusarium sp.), Beauveria (Beauveria bassiana), Beauveria (Beauveria bassiana), Epicoccum (Epicoccum nigrum), Alternaria (Alternaria arborescens), and Fusarium (Fusarium sp.). It is recommended to inoculate the six fungi in the adult stage of the pest to determine if there is a biological control and to amplify the direct methodology isolates that could not be identified to determine their role.