Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp2 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Isolation and identification of indigenous entomopathogenic fungi infecting brown plant hopper on rice from Andhra Pradesh, India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.12792
Submitted
17 November 2025
Published
20-04-2026

Abstract

The brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) is a highly destructive pest of rice. Among the promising eco-friendly alternatives for insect pest management is the use of entomopathogenic fungi. The present study aimed to isolate and identify, both morphologically and molecularly, strains of entomopathogenic fungi infecting brown planthopper populations in rice fields of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Two fungal strains were isolated and morphologically characterised: one belonging to Beauveria bassiana and the other to Metarhizium anisopliae. Molecular identification revealed sequence identity values greater than 99 % with reference strains of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae in public databases. Phylogenetic analysis further confirmed that the obtained sequences clustered within the respective clades of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, validating the morphological and molecular identification.

References

  1. 1. Balachiranjeevi CH, Prahalada GD, Mahender A, Jamaloddin M, Marfori-Nazarea CM, Vinarão R, et al. Identification of a novel locus, BPH38(t), conferring resistance to brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål) using early backcross population in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Euphytica. 2019;215:185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-019-2506-2
  2. 2. Rao YK, Bentur JS, Pasalu IC. Rice brown planthopper: Ecology, field problems and management. Indian J Plant Prot. 2003;31(1):1–9.
  3. 3. Backus EA, Serrano MS, Ranger CM. Mechanisms of hopperburn: An overview of insect taxonomy, behavior and physiology. Annu Rev Entomol. 2005;50:125–51. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.49.061802.123310
  4. 4. Helina S, Sulandari S, Hartono S, Trisyono YA. Detection and analysis of protein profile on rice infected by stunting virus with different severity on Ciherang and Situ Bagendit varieties. Indones J Plant Prot. 2019;23(1):116–24. https://doi.org/10.22146/jpti.36549
  5. 5. Rombach MC, Humber RA, Roberts DW. Metarhizium flavoviride var. minus var. nov., a pathogen of Nilaparvata lugens and Nephotettix spp. (Homoptera: Delphacidae and Cicadellidae). Mycotaxon. 1986;26:87–92. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.418873
  6. 6. Malekan N, Hatami B, Ebadi R, Akhavan A, Radjabi R. Evaluation of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Lecanicillium muscarium on different nymphal stages of greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum under greenhouse conditions. Biharean Biol. 2015;9(2):108–112.
  7. 7. Huynh VN, Nhan NT, Hung PQ, Khang VT, Loc NT. Studies on some entomogenous fungi to control brown planthopper in rice. Omonrice. 1999;7:149–57.
  8. 8. Jackson MA, Jaronski ST, Dunlap CA. Ecological factors in the inundative use of fungal entomopathogens. Biocontrol. 2000;45:159–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3966-8_12
  9. 9. Dong T, Zhang B, Jiang Y, Hu Q. Isolation and classification of fungal whitefly entomopathogens from soils of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Gansu Corridor in China. PLoS One. 2016;11(5):e0156187. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156087
  10. 10. Dayanti AK, Sholahuddin, Yunus A, Subositi D. First record of entomopathogenic fungi on autumn leaf caterpillar (Doleschallia bisaltide). IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci. 2018;142(1):012034. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/142/1/012040
  11. 11. Atta S, Rizwan M, Ullah MI, Khan AR. Pathogenicity of entomopathogenic fungi against brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Egypt J Biol Pest Control. 2020;30(1):1–7.
  12. 12. Reddy AV, Devi RS, Dhurua S, Reddy DVV. Study on the efficacy of some entomogenous fungi against brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål in irrigated rice. J Biopest. 2013;6(2):139–43. https://doi.org/10.57182/jbiopestic.6.2.139-143
  13. 13. Trizelia T, Rahma H. Virulence of five isolates of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae against brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens). J Proteksi Tanaman. 2023;7(2):127–33. https://doi.org/10.25077/jpt.7.2.127-133.2023
  14. 14. Quesada-Moraga E, Navas-Cortés JA, Maranhao EAA, Ortiz-Urquiza A, Santiago-Álvarez C. Factors affecting the occurrence and distribution of entomopathogenic fungi in natural and cultivated soils. Mycol Res. 2007;111(8):947–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mycres.2007.06.006
  15. 15. Teixeira AC, Faria MR. Protocols for isolation and characterization of entomopathogenic fungi. Biol Control. 2010;53(2):195–200.
  16. 16. Lacey LA, Solter LF. Initial handling and diagnosis of diseased invertebrates. In: Lacey LA, editor. Manual of techniques in invertebrate pathology. 2nd ed. Academic Press; 2012. p. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386899-2.00001-4
  17. 17. Schapovaloff ME, Alves SB, Lopez Lastra CC. Occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi in soils of agricultural crops in Argentina. Rev Soc Entomol Argent. 2015;74(3–4):119–26.
  18. 18. Humber RA. Entomopathogenic fungal identification. Ithaca: USDA-ARS Plant Protection Research Unit; 2005 [cited 2026 Mar 15]. Available from: https://www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/80620520/apswkshoprev.pdf
  19. 19. Samson RA, Evans HC, Latgé JP. Atlas of entomopathogenic fungi. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1988. p.1–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05890-9_1
  20. 20. Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA. Ainsworth & Bisbys’ dictionary of the fungi. 10th ed. Wallingford (UK): CAB International; 2008. https://doi.org/10.1079/9780851998268.0000
  21. 21. Humber RA. Identification of entomopathogenic fungi. In: Lacey LA, editor. Manual of techniques in invertebrate pathology. 2nd ed. Academic Press; 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386899-2.00006-3
  22. 22. Lee SB, Taylor JW. Isolation of DNA from fungal mycelia and single spores. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ, editors. PCR protocols: A guide to methods and applications. San Diego: Academic Press; 1990. p.282–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-372180-8.50038-X
  23. 23. White TJ, Bruns T, Taylor J. Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ, editors. PCR protocols: A guide to methods and applications. San Diego: Academic Press; 1990. p.315–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-372180-8.50042-1
  24. 24. Hiraishi A, Shin YK, Ueda Y, Sugiyama J, Nishiyama K, Komagata K. Phylogenetic relationships among species of the genus Acinetobacter based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences. Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1995;45(4):623–9.
  25. 25. Hall T. BioEdit: A user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symp Ser. 1999;41:95–8.
  26. 26. Kumar S, Stecher G, Tamura K. MEGA7: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Mol Biol Evol. 2016;33(7):1870–4. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw054
  27. 27. Kirubhadharsini BL, Nakkeeran S, Kennedy JS, Manoharan T. Morphological and molecular characterization of entomopathogenic fungi isolated from different Beauveria bassiana isolates from insects in India. Green Farming. 2017;4:940–44.
  28. 28. Gebremariam A, Chekol Y, Assefa F. Phenotypic, molecular and virulence characterization of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae from soil samples of Ethiopia for development of mycoinsecticide. Heliyon. 2021;7(5):e07091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07091
  29. 29. Barnett HL, Hunter BB. Illustrated genera of imperfect fungi. St Paul (MN): American Phytopathological Society; 1999.
  30. 30. Slavimira A, Draganova D, Takov I. Naturally occurring entomopathogenic fungi on three bark beetle species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Bulgaria. Pestic Phytomed. 2010;25(1):59–63. https://doi.org/10.2298/PIF1001059D
  31. 31. Elham MSH, Pong KK, Lee GEL, Azmi WA. Occurrence of entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae isolated from island, BRIS and coastal soils of Terengganu, Malaysia. J Sustain Sci Manag. 2018;13(5):179–89.
  32. 32. Bai NS, Sasidharan TO, Remadevi OK, Dharmarajan P, Pandian SK, Balaji K. Morphology and RAPD analysis of certain potentially entomopathogenic isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae. J Microbiol Biotechnol Res. 2015;5(1):34–40.
  33. 33. Lim SY, Lee S, Kong HG, Lee J. Entomopathogenicity of Simplicillium lanosoniveum isolated in Korea. Mycobiology. 2014;42(4):317–21. https://doi.org/10.5941/MYCO.2014.42.4.317
  34. 34. Imoulan A, Ibnsouda SK, El Meziane A. Molecular characterization and effectiveness of native entomopathogenic Beauveria bassiana strains against adults of Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata). J Biosci Biotechnol Discov. 2016;1(1):6–16. https://doi.org/10.31248/JBBD2016.008
  35. 35. Rehner SA, Buckley E. A Beauveria phylogeny inferred from nuclear ITS and EF1-α sequences: Evidence for cryptic diversification and links to Cordyceps teleomorphs. Mycologia. 2005;97(1):84–98. https://doi.org/10.3852/mycologia.97.1.84
  36. 36. Henry T, Iwen PC, Hinrichs SH. Identification of Aspergillus species using internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2. J Clin Microbiol. 2000;38(4):1510–15. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.38.4.1510-1515.2000
  37. 37. Shenoy BD, Jeewon R, Hyde KD. Impact of DNA sequence data on the taxonomy of anamorphic fungi. Fungal Divers. 2007;26:1–54.
  38. 38. Bich GA, Castrillo ML, Kramer FL, Villalba LL, Zapata PD. Morphological and molecular identification of entomopathogenic fungi from agricultural and forestry crops. Floresta Ambiente. 2021;28(2):e20180180. https://doi.org/10.1590/2179-8087-floram-2018-0086
  39. 39. Sayed SM, Ali EF, Arnaouty SAE, Mahmoud SF, Amer SA. Isolation, identification and molecular diversity of indigenous isolates of Beauveria bassiana from Taif region, Saudi Arabia. Egypt J Biol Pest Control. 2018;28:47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41938-018-0054-z
  40. 40. Becerra RA, Rangel RE, Rodriguez AA. Genetic variability and population structure using molecular markers. J Genet Mol Biol. 2007;18(2):123–34.
  41. 41. Schoch CL, Seifert KA, Huhndorf S, Robert V, Spouge JL, Levesque CA, et al. Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region as a universal DNA barcode marker for fungi. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2012;109(16):6241–6. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1117018109
  42. 42. Toju H, Tanabe AS, Yamamoto S, Sato H. High-coverage ITS primers for the DNA-based identification of ascomycetes and basidiomycetes in environmental samples. PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40863. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040863

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.