| dc.description.abstract | The tomato red spider mite (RSM), Tetranychus evansi Baker and
Pritchard, is an important exotic pest in the production of tomatoes and other sola naceous plants in Africa. Isolates of Beauveria bassiana ICIPE 273, ICIPE 279,
ICIPE 283, ICIPE 10, and ICIPE 35 were previously tested for their endophytic
activity in tomato in a screenhouse assay. ICIPE 35 was able to colonise leaves,
stems and roots of the tomato varieties Cal J, Kilele and Anna F1, whereas the other
four isolates were undetectable in all plant parts of the varieties tested, thus confirm ing no colonisation. Colonisation was assessed after every two-week period by plat ing the various plant parts on selective media. Persistence was examined by
comparing colonisation from week 2, 4 and 6, since there was no colonisation
detected after this time, for all the tested tomato varieties. There were no significant
differences in levels of colonisation in the various parts of tomato varieties, i.e. stem
(F = 1.7, DF = 2, P = 0.186), roots (F = 2.0, DF = 2, P = 0.127), and leaves (F = 0.28,
DF = 2, P = 0.752). The density of T. evansi was lower in endophyte-colonised
plants than the controls. In conclusion, this study revealed that B. bassiana can colonise and persist in the tested tomato varieties for a period of 6 weeks in the
screenhouse and reduce adult RSM populations. | en_US |
