Defense Responses in Cowpea Elicited by Entomopathogenic Fungi Against Aphis craccivora Koch Parveen S Sumaiya1,*, Madhumitha B1, Sridhar R Philip1 1Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore641114, Tamil Nadu, India *Email: ssumaiyasaleem@gmail.com (corresponding author): ORCID ID 0000-0001-8434-6508
Online Published on 18 October, 2023. Abstract Use of entomopathogenic fungi for controlling the aphids is well attempted and further substantiation of interaction of entomopathogenic fungus in cowpea plants against aphid were studied in detail. Bioassays were performed with five fungal isolates against cowpea aphid Aphis craccivora Koch. The results revealed that the isolate Beauveria bassiana (NBAIR) recorded the highest mortality of 94.67% at 120 hr (at 5 days after treatment- DAT). The foliar application of its crude formulation @ 108 spores ml-1 had significant influence on the induction of defense related enzymes and components against A. craccivora infestation in cowpea. Resistant mechanism mediated by entomopathogenic fungi in cowpea against A. craccivora showed sustained and timely induction/ accumulation of defense enzymes. On 4 DAT the enzymes viz., peroxidases, polyphenol oxidases, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, chitinase, catalase and phenolics revealed maximum activity. Top Keywords Cowpea, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Lecanicillium lecanii, Aphis craccivora, Defense, Peroxidases, Polyphenol oxidases, Phenyl alanine ammonia lyase, Chitinase, Catalase, Phenolics. Top |