Endophytic Colonization of Lecanicillium lecanii JMC-01 in Tomatoes for the Control of Bemisia tabaci

doi:10.16420/j.issn.0513-353x.2024-0491

Acta Horticulturae Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (11): 3057-3068.doi: 10.16420/j.issn.0513-353x.2024-0491

• Plant Protection • Previous Articles Next Articles

Endophytic Colonization of Lecanicillium lecanii JMC-01 in Tomatoes for the Control of Bemisia tabaci

LI Jinpeng, LI Qiuyu, YAN Xiaoxi, TIAN Haoran, HONG Bo, and JIA Yanxia^*()

School of Agriculture， Ningxia University， Yinchuan 750021， China

Received:2024-11-01 Revised:2025-05-08 Online:2025-11-26 Published:2025-11-26
Contact: and JIA Yanxia

Abstract

Abstract:

The entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium lecanii can asymptomatically exist as an endophyte in certain plants and invade pests to inhibit their development or kill them during the feeding process. In order to determine whether L. lecanii JMC-01 could effectively endogenously colonize tomatoes，promote tomato growth，and have a control effect on Bemisia tabaci. The colonization efficiency of JMC-01 was evaluated by the antibiotic marking method，the tissue distribution of JMC-01 in tomato nutrient organs such as roots stems and leaves was detected by flat colony counting method，the growth indexes of tomato plants were measured to determine the growth promoting effect of JMC-01 on tomato plants，and the effect on growth and development and the mortality rat of B. tabaci caused by the endophytic colonization of JMC-01 were explored to assess its control effect. The results showed that JMC-01 could be effectively colonized by soil irrigation，stem injection，root irrigation，and foliar spraying. Foliar spraying had the best legal colonization effect，and the colonization rate reached 100% within 28 days. JMC-01 was easily enriched at the inoculation site，and the colonization rate was the highest when inoculated conidial suspension at 1 × 10⁸ spores · mL^-1. When JMC-01 colonized endophytically in tomatoes for 14 days，the plant height and chlorophyll content of tomato were significantly higher than that of the control，and the mortality of B. tabaci significantly increased and the developmental period was prolonged，and the control efficiency of adults in the greenhouse could reach 59.35%. The research results indicated that JMC-01 could not only endogenously colonize tomato plants，but also promote their growth，and significantly inhibit the growth and survival rate of B. tabaci.

Key words: tomato, entomopathogenic fungi, Lecanicillium lecanii, endophytic colonization, growth promotion, Bemisia tabaci

LI Jinpeng, LI Qiuyu, YAN Xiaoxi, TIAN Haoran, HONG Bo, and JIA Yanxia. Endophytic Colonization of Lecanicillium lecanii JMC-01 in Tomatoes for the Control of Bemisia tabaci[J]. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 2025, 52(11): 3057-3068.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Comparison of colonization rate of tomato by JMC-01

Fig. 2 Colonization of different parts of tomato by JMC-01 at different concentrations and inoculation methods The data in the figure are mean ± SE（n = 6），and the data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. * indicates significant differences between root，stem and leaf groups at the same time（P < 0.05），** indicates highly significant differences（P < 0.01）

Fig. 3 Effects of JMC-01 on height，and chlorophyll content of tomato plants t检验，* α = 0.05 t-test，* α = 0.05

Fig. 4 Effects of JMC-01 on the root length，fresh and dry weights of the aboveground and underground parts of tomato plants

Fig. 5 Survival analysis of Bemisia tabaci after feeding on JMC-01 inoculated plants and the control plants

Fig. 6 Mortality of Bemisia tabaci at all ages

Table 1 Control effects of JMC-01 against Bemisia tabaci

处理 Treatment	处理天数/d Days after treatment
	1		3		5		7		10		14
	RR/%	CE/%	RR/%	CE/%	RR/%	CE/%	RR/%	CE/%	RR/%	CE/%	RR/%	CE/%
JMC-01	24.13 b	24.13 ± 1.23	39.18 b	38.63 ± 2.25	46.01 b	45.30 ± 6.35	51.40 b	50.31 ±7.40	56.46 b	54.90 ± 7.10	60.91 b	59.35 ± 5.75
对照 Control	0 a	-	0.85 a	-	1.25 a	-	2.11 a	-	3.36 a	-	3.81 a	-

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Endophytic Colonization of Lecanicillium lecanii JMC-01 in Tomatoes for the Control of Bemisia tabaci

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