A survey of entomopathogenic and other opportunistic fungi isolated from soil samples collected from insect hibernation sites in different habitats in Kurdistan region of Iraq was carried out during October to December 2009. By using dilution plate method, two entomopathogenic species (Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill.and Isaria javanica (Friedrichs & Bally) Samson & Hywel-Jones) were detected with isolation percentage (38.46%) each. Other opportunistic fungi such as Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, A.niger, Penicillium glabrum, P. digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer and Syncephalastratum racemosum were also isolated. B. bassiana was the most virulent fungus and showed complete mortality (100%) on two aphid species Hyalopterus pruni Geoff. and Aphis pomi De Greer after six days of inoculation, followed by I.javanica with 66.67% and 75.59% mortality respectively. I. javanica was isolated for the first time from Iraq. A brief description along with photographs is provided for the newly recorded species. Key words: Entomopathogenic fungi, Soil, Iraq.
Insect pest management has been dominated by the use of synthetic pesticides since early 1950s. However, lately this control method is not widely accepted due to an increase in environmental awareness, food safety concerns and the increasing number of insecticide-resistant species. In Iraq, the chemical insect pest control is still a dominant control method regardless of the increased pressure to replace it gradually with environment friendly alternatives such as predators, parasitoids, nematodes and entomopathogenic fungi. In Iraq, there is an increasing volume of research that has used different genus and species of entomopathogenic fungi for controlling several agricultural pests. However, these efforts are not yet reflected
... Show MoreThis study was conducted in the College of Agriculture fields /University of Baghdad, during Autumn 2013. This study was aimed to examine the mortality rate on the all black fly stages of Acaudalerodes rachipora Singh) by the biotic fungus Beuveria bassiana. The results of a preliminary survey showed that the samples of Ziziphus spaina christi were infested by blakflies in Agriculture collage during Autumn seasons of 2013 , the presence of species of black flies A. rachipora on the lower surface of the leaf, the study aimed to study and research the effects of fungus B. bassiana on black fly A. rachipora. After six days of treatment results showed the continued superiority 106 spore / ml trends in the western, southern and
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to evaluate the pathogenicity of Beauveria bassiana to the Homaira insect Batrachedra. amydraula under laboratory conditions. The dilution 1 x 10-2 showed a significant and high mortality rates on the eggs, first and fifth instars of the homaira larvae which reaches 100%, 96.19% and 91.20% after 7 days from treatment. However mortality rates found to be decreased to 88.97% for fifth instar after 10 days from treatment, while results showed parasitism potentially reaches 94.50% in pupae and 90.22% in adults.
This study consist of using Metarhizium anisopliae as abioinsecticide against house fly
Musca domestica L. For controlling it biologicaly its Larvae were treated by sprying them
directly and sprying their food with 2.3 × 10
8
conidia / ml of Metarhizium anisopliae .
Infected Larve showed symptoms of slugishness and slow growth. Histopathological study of
the dead Larve showed Conidial adhesion and germ tube penetrations through body wall and
begining of fungus hyphal growth under the body wall and hyphal invasion in haemocoel and
gut.
Identification of pathogens and locating their inocul¬um source (S) are the first strategies toward successful disease management program the pretransplating seedl¬ing damping - off problem on vegetable crops was found to be caused by Pythium aphanidermatum and Rhizocto¬nia solani. Both fungi were isolated from peat (moss) for the first time in Iraq. In addition, considerable num¬ber of pathogenic fungi was found as contaminants in soil samples from Alrashidiah vegetable covered farming station. Among the isolated fungi were: Pythium apha¬nidermatum, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani phialophora spp., Cephalisporium spp Rizopus stolonfier and Botrytis cine¬rea, in addition to several
... Show MoreThe present study was conducted to reveal the effect of crude oil on some fungal species isolation from soil in order to evaluate the role of these fungi in environmental balance of soil . The results showed a variation in numbers and percentage of the fungal isolates Aspergillus fumigatus dominated over all isolates with a frequency of (32.47) . In respect of the effect of different concentrations of the crude oil, low concentrations (0.05, 0.1) % showed no effect on radial growth ( mean colony diameter) of the isolated fungi grown &nbs
... Show MoreThe study was conducted to isolate and identify endophytic fungi from leaves and twigs of lebbeck (Albizia lebbeck) and study their antagonistic activity against some plant fungal pathogens. Results showed isolation of 75 isolate endophytic fungi from 240 segments of leaves and twigs representing colonization frequency of 47.43%. Isolated fungi included different species of Aspergillus which prevail over other species (6 species), and three different isolates of Penicillium, one more species of Paecilomyces, Drechslera, Fusarium, Curvularia, Nigrospora and hyaline sterile fungus. Results showed variation in colonization frequencies within all species isolated from the two plant parts. Dual culture methods for
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study is to estimate the levels of some essential and non-essential metals content of soil and seven leafy vegetable species, in the field 30m away from the Al-Qanat highway in Baghdad using X-ray fluorescence analysis. The results showed that soil and leafy vegetables had higher levels of macro elements, and that Ca in rocket and purslane was the highest. The average content of trace elements in soil and leafy vegetables has been close to the minimum than the range of permissible limits recommended by WHO and FAO/WHO except Fe, Cr and Ni in soil have exceeded the concentration of the threshold limit (13728.8 mg/kg Dw for Fe, 183.361mg/kg Dw for Cr, and 124.01mg/kg Dw for Ni) value as well for leafy vege
... Show MoreEntomopathogenic fungi can be ideal for the biocontrol of cockroaches since it is environment-friendly microbial pesticide. Susceptibility of second and fourth instar of nymphs and adults of the brown banded cockroach, Supella longipalpa (F.) (Blattodea: Blattellidae) to the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill. at two concentrations 1x 107 and 1x 108 spore/ml was evaluated. Fungus was tested by using two different methods: bait and direct contact. Mortality was monitored after 3, 5 and 7 days’ post exposure. Direct contact of B. bassiana at concentration 1x 107 spore/ml produced mortality on adults 82.76% and for fourth and second instar of nymphs 82.76 and 93.10% after 7 daysâ
... Show MoreForty-four bottles of drinking water were collected from the local markets of Basra City and stored in the laboratory refrigerator at 4ºC until the physical, chemical and biological measurements were carried out. The results showed a discrepancy in the compatibility of the specifications written on the drinking water bottle label with the sample measurements as well as the variation in the results with the Iraqi standards for bottled water. The percentage of bottled water that is not safe for drinking was 88.5% of the total samples of the study. This value is high and an indication of lack of control over marketing from the imported or produced in the local labs, s
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