scholarly journals Effect of earthworm Eisenia fetida epidermal mucus on the vitality and pathogenicity of Beauveria bassiana

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xibei Zhou ◽  
Wulong Liang ◽  
Yanfeng Zhang ◽  
Zhumei Ren ◽  
Yingping Xie

AbstractBeauveria bassiana is one of the most widely studied and used entomopathogenic fungus as biopesticide. In the biological control of pests, B. bassiana will persist in the soil after application, and will inevitably contact with earthworms, especially the epigeic earthworm species. So, what are the effects of earthworm and its epidermal mucus on the activity of B. bassiana? We employed the epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida, B. bassiana TST05 strain, and the insect Atrijuglans hetaohei mature larvae to study the impact of earthworm epidermal mucus on the vitality and pathogenicity of B. bassiana to insect. Methods included scanning electron microscope observation, detection of spore germination, fungal extracellular enzyme activity, and infection testing to A. hetaohei. The results showed that the B. bassiana spores may attach to the cuticle of E. fetida but they could be covered by the epidermal mucus and became rough and shrunken. After treatment with the epidermal mucus, the spore germination and extracellular enzymes of B. bassiana was significantly inhibited. Inoculation of A. hetaohei larvae with a mixture of B. bassiana and mucus showed that the mucus could reduce the pathogenicity of B. bassiana to the insect, resulting in a slower disease course and lower mortality. It was concluded that the epidermal mucus of the earthworm E. fetida can inhibit the activity of B. bassiana, as well as the infectivity and pathogenicity of fungus to target insects. However, after treatment with epidermal mucus the surviving B. bassiana still had certain infectivity to insects. This is of great significance for the application of B. bassiana in biological control of pests.

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 5841-5870 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Burrell ◽  
E. W. Maas ◽  
P. Teesdale-Spittle ◽  
C. S. Law

Abstract. To fully understand the impact of ocean acidification on biogeochemical cycles, the response of bacterial extracellular enzymes needs to be considered as they play a central role in the degradation and distribution of labile organic matter. This study investigates the methodology, and potential artefacts involved in determining the response of bacterial extracellular glucosidase and protease to ocean acidification. The effect of pH on artificial fluorophores and substrates was examined, as well as the impact of three different acidification methods. The results indicate that pH has a significant effect on the fluorescence of the artificial fluorophore 4-methylumbeliferone for glucosidase activity, and 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin for protease activity, while artificial aminopeptidase substrate alters the pH of seawater, confirming previous observations. Before use in ocean acidification research these enzyme assay components must be buffered in order to stabilise sample pH. Reduction of coastal seawater pH to 7.8 was shown to increase β-glucosidase activity rapidly (0.5 h), while no significant response was detected for leucine aminopeptidase, highlighting the need for short-term direct effects of pH on enzyme activities. Bubbling with CO2 gas resulted in higher β-glucosidase activity when compared to acidification using gas-permeable silicon tubing and acidification with HCl. Although bubbling showed variable effects between two experiments conducted at different times of the year. In addition, bacterial cell numbers were 15–40% higher with bubbling relative to seawater acidified with gas-permeable silicon tubing and HCl. Artefacts associated with bubbling may lead to the overestimation of extracellular enzyme activities, and interpretation of the impacts of ocean acidification on organic matter cycling.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shayeb Shahariar ◽  
Bobbi Helgason ◽  
Raju Soolanayakanahally ◽  
Angela Bedard-Haughn

Abstract Land-use change and climatic variability are significant drivers for the loss of ecosystem services and soil quality in the prairie pothole region (PPR) wetland systems. Land-use induced changes in groundwater table and salinity may influence biogeochemical processes facilitated by extracellular enzymes (EEs) involved in soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. The effects of changing groundwater table and salinity on β-glucosidase (BG), N-acetyl glucosaminidase (NAG), and alkaline phosphatase (AP) activities were assessed in wetland soils collected from three different adjacent riparian land-use practices in the PPR. In a microcosm study conducted over ten weeks, soils were treated with groundwater salinity (control, 6 mS cm− 1, and 12 mS cm− 1) and declining groundwater table depths. Extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) differed significantly (p < 0.05) among soils from different land-uses and between groundwater table depths. The impact of groundwater salinity on soil EEAs were non-significant (p > 0.05). Soil EEAs were significantly higher in soils from pasture, suggesting that the land-use effects resulted from background SOC and TN. Soil EEAs significantly (p < 0.05) reduced under a deeper groundwater table depth, except reverse for BG in site B, indicated that the lowered groundwater table could lead to transitory drought stress for SOM decomposers.


Biochar ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngitheni Winnie-Kate Nyoka ◽  
Ozekeke Ogbeide ◽  
Patricks Voua Otomo

AbstractTerrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by pesticide pollution resulting from extensive use of pesticides, and due to the lack of regulatory measures in the developing world, there is a need for affordable means to lessen environmental effects. This study aimed to investigate the impact of biochar amendment on the toxicity of imidacloprid to life-cycle parameters and biomarker responses of the earthworm Eisenia fetida. E. fetida was exposed to 10% biochar-amended and non-amended OECD artificial soils spiked with 0, 0.75, 1.5, 2.25 and 3 mg imidacloprid/kg for 28 days. An LC50 of 2.7 mg/kg was only computed in the non-amended soil but not in the biochar-amended soil due to insignificant mortality. The EC50 calculated in the non-amended soil (0.92 mg/kg) for reproduction (fertility) was lower than the one computed in the biochar amended (0.98 mg/kg), indicating a decrease in toxicity in the biochar-amended substrate. Significant weight loss was observed at the two highest imidacloprid treatments in the non-amended soil and only at the highest treatment in the biochar-amended substrate, further highlighting the beneficial effects of biochar. Catalase activity decreased significantly at the two highest concentrations of non-amended soil. Yet, in the amended soil, the activity remained high, especially in the highest concentration, where it was significantly higher than the controls. This indicated more severe oxidative stress in the absence of biochar. In all non-amended treatments, there was a significant acetylcholinesterase inhibition, while lower inhibition percentages were observed in the biochar-amended soil. In most endpoints, the addition of biochar alleviated the toxic effects of imidacloprid, which shows that biochar has the potential to be useful in soil remediation. However, there is still a need for field studies to identify the most effective application rate of biochar for land application.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 101262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alagersamy Alagesan ◽  
Balakrishnan Padmanaban ◽  
Gunasekaran Tharani ◽  
Sundaram Jawahar ◽  
Subramanian Manivannan

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Tropeano ◽  
Susana Vázquez ◽  
Silvia Coria ◽  
Adrián Turjanski ◽  
Daniel Cicero ◽  
...  

AbstractCold−adapted marine bacteria producing extracellular hydrolytic enzymes are important for their industrial application and play a key role in degradation of particulate organic matter in their natural environment. In this work, members of a previously−obtained protease−producing bacterial collection isolated from different marine sources from Potter Cove (King George Island, South Shetlands) were taxonomically identified and screened for their ability to produce other economically relevant enzymes. Eighty−eight proteolytic bacterial isolates were grouped into 25 phylotypes based on their Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis profiles. The sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes from representative isolates of the phylotypes showed that the predominant culturable protease−producing bacteria belonged to the class Gammaproteobacteria and were affiliated to the genera Pseudomonas, Shewanella, Colwellia, and Pseudoalteromonas, the latter being the predominant group (64% of isolates). In addition, members of the classes Actinobacteria, Bacilli and Flavobacteria were found. Among the 88 isolates screened we detected producers of amylases (21), pectinases (67), cellulases (53), CM−cellulases (68), xylanases (55) and agarases (57). More than 85% of the isolates showed at least one of the extracellular enzymatic activities tested, with some of them producing up to six extracellular enzymes. Our results confirmed that using selective conditions to isolate producers of one extracellular enzyme activity increases the probability of recovering bacteria that will also produce additional extracellular enzymes. This finding establishes a starting point for future programs oriented to the prospecting for biomolecules in Antarctica.


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