Bioactivity of essential oils to Bemisia tabaci MED (biotype q) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) on tomato

• Grant number: 19/26090-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2020
• End date: February 28, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Edson Luiz Lopes Baldin
• Grantee: Isabella Rubio Cabral
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Tomato Solanum lycopersicon L. (Solanaceae) has a great economic importance in Brazil, with the high in natura production and consumption as well as industrial processing. Whitefly species of Bemisia tabaci complex (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) are key tomato pests due to direct and indirect damage, which reduces crop yield. In Brazil, B. tabaci Mediterranean (MED) was first identified in 2014 in Rio Grande do Sul, and subsequently spread throughout the country. B. tabaci MED may be a potential pest for tomato crop considering its recognition for lower susceptibility to insecticides, greater competitive ability over Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) species and higher virus transmission eciency. Therefore, the development of efficient and more sustainable control methods for B. tabaci MED is necessary. In this sense, the use of essential oils for pest control have been promising because they are natural chemicals (non synthetic) with great diversity of interacting compounds, which implies a lower selection pressure and delay in the emergence of resistant insect populations. Thus, this project aims to evaluate the essential oils of Pelargonium graveolens L'Her. (Geraniaceae), Eugenia uniflora L. (Myrtaceae), and Piper callosum Ruiz & Pav. (Piperaceae) bioactivity on B. tabaci MED. Lethal concentration (LC's) curves of essential oils and major compounds will be estimated for whitefly nymphs. Thereafter, LC50 and LC90 determined for nymphs will be used to assess egg and adult mortality. A semi-field bioassay will be performed using the most promising essential oil. Therefore, the essential oils are expected to be efficient in controlling B. tabaci MED and that can be incorporated as a valuable strategy for alternative tomato insect management.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DOS SANTOS, MARIA CLEZIA; SANTANA, ALISSON DA SILVA; SCHULZ, GABRIELA PEREIRA; CABRAL, ISABELLA RUBIO; DOS SANTOS, THAIS LOHAINE BRAGA; LOURENCAO, ANDRE LUIZ; BALDIN, EDSON LUIZ LOPES. Preference of Bemisia tabaci MED (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) among morphologically and physically distinct tomato genotypes. PHYTOPARASITICA, v. N/A, p. 15-pg., 2023-08-15. (19/26090-2)