DOI: 10.5061/dryad.p8cz8w9xv
title: Data from: Compatibility of the fungus Beauveria bassiana and Trichoplusia ni SNPV against the cabbage looper Trichoplusia ni : crop plant matters

description: BACKGROUND: Microbial insecticides are an important weapon in insect pest
 management, but their use is still relatively limited. One approach for
 increasing their efficacy and use could be to combine different pathogens
 to increase pest mortality. However, little is known about whether
 increasing pathogen diversity will improve pest management. Here, we
 investigated the compatibility of two pathogens for the management of the
 cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni; T. ni nucleopolyhedrovirus (TniSNPV) and
 the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana on two crops, tomato and
 broccoli. The pathogens were applied to individual plants using ultra low
 volume sprays, alone or in combination, either synchronously or
 asynchronously. Healthy 3rd instar T. ni larvae were introduced to the
 plants before application and collected by destructive sampling 24h after
 the last pathogen application. RESULTS: Combined applications did not
 result in an increase in larval mortality compared to TniSNPV alone,
 although mortality was generally high. Beauveria bassiana was considerably
 less effective on broccoli compared to tomato. In both the combined
 treatments, virus-induced mortality was approximately 50% lower when
 applied together with the fungus, while fungus-induced mortality was not
 affected by the virus, even when the virus was introduced 24h before the
 fungus. CONCLUSION: While our results suggest that applying this
 combination of entomopathogens would not be beneficial for pest
 management, this study illustrates the need to consider the target crop as
 an important driver of the efficacy of both single and mixed pathogen
 applications in the field.
description: Data overview: date: September and
 October 2019 location: Simon Fraser
 University larvae were reared from neonate in
 individual 1oz SOLO cups, fed artificial whet-germ based diet and kept at
 25C, 16:8 L:D cycle, until 3rd instar newly 3rd
 instar larvae were then randomly selected and transferred to one of the
 two host plants (broccoli and tomato) in a greenhouse
 After pathogen application, larvae were collected and reared
 individually in 1oz SOLO cups, fed artificial whet-germ based diet and
 kept at 25C, 16:8 L:D cycle Data
 collected: individual date of death or
 pupation (survival) cause of death
 if death occured, death cause by fungal infection where checked
 for signs of sporulation on the cadaver
description: # Compatibility of the fungus Beauveria bassiana and Trichoplusia ni SNPV
 against the cabbage looper Trichoplusia ni : crop plant matters
 Authors: Pauline S.
 Deschodt and Jenny S. Cory Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser
 University, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada Corresponding
 author: Pauline Deschodt, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser
 University, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
 Keywords: Beauveria bassiana, crop plant, mixed
 infection, microbial pest control, nucleopolyhedrovirus, Trichoplusia ni
 Overview: * date: September and October 2019 * location: Simon Fraser
 University * larvae were reared from neonate in individual 1oz SOLO cups,
 fed artificial whet-germ based diet and kept at 25C, 16:8 L:D cycle, until
 3rd instar * 20 newly 3rd instar larvae were randomly selected and
 transferred to one of the two host plant (broccoli and tomato) in a
 greenhouse * after pathogen application, larvae were collected, reason
 individually in 1oz cups, fed artificial whet-germ based diet and kept at
 25C, 16:8 L:D cycle ## Description of the data and file structure The
 first 9 columns describe the different treatments * Pathogen_treatment:
 spray application treatment (control, virus single, virus single 1/2,
 fungus single, fungus single 1/2, mixed synchronous, mixed synchronous
 1/2, mixed delayed, mixed delayed 1/2) * Application_rate_virus_OBs.m-2:
 application rate chosen for the treatment that included virus application
 (4*10^7 and 8*10^7 OB.m-2) * Application_rate_fungus_conidia.m-2:
 application rate chosen for the treatment that included virus application
 (2*10^8 and 4*10^8 conidia.-2) * Date_spray_1: Date of the first pathogen
 application (n/a for the control treatment) * Date_spray_2: Date of the
 second pathogen application (n/a for control and single application
 treatments) * Sampling_date: Date when the larvae were destructively
 sampled and collected from the host plants * Host_plant: broccoli or
 tomato * Plant_number: Individual plant number in each of the treatment
 (up to 5) Data collected: * Death_date: date at the time of death (n/a for
 larvae that pupated) * Survival_y0_n1: noted "0" if the larvae
 survived infection (pupated) or noted "1" if the larva died *
 Cause_of_death: identified cause of death for each larvae (n/a for larvae
 that pupated) * sporulation: "y" for yes the cadaver showed
 signs of sporulation (white spots on the cadaver cuticle) Abbreviation: *
 OB: occlusion body ## Sharing/Access information n/a ## Code/Software n/a