Identification of a Cordyceps fumosorosea Fungus Isolate and Its Pathogenicity against Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Some entomopathogenic fungi are highly pathogenic to Diaphorina citri, which is the mainly transmitting vector of CLas. In our study, we isolated an entomopathogenic fungus strain from an adult cadaver of D. citri. The isolate was identified as Cordyceps fumosorosea, based on morphology and ITS sequence analysis, and named C. fumosorosea SCAU-CFDC01. We further evaluated its pathogenicity against D. citri nymphs and adults under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. The laboratory results showed that C. fumosorosea SCAU-CFDC01 was most pathogenic to young nymphs, followed by old nymphs and adults. Furthermore, the results on greenhouse experiments revealed that C. fumosorosea SCAU-CFDC01 not only had high pathogenicity against nymphs, but also had serious negative effects on adults from nymphs treated, including emergence rate of adults and female longevity. Our results showed C. fumosorosea SCAU-CFDC01 was highly pathogenic to D. citri, and these findings will facilitate mycoparasite development for biological control of D. citri. ABSTRACT: Diaphorina citri is the mainly transmitting vector of the citrus huanglongbing pathogen, which causes severe losses in in the citrus industry. In this study, we isolated a new entomopathogenic fungus, identified as member of Cordyceps fumosorosea based on morphology and ITS sequence analysis. We named C. fumosorosea SCAU-CFDC01 and evaluated its pathogenicity against D. citri nymphs and adults by immersion under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Results showed that SCAU-CFDC01 was most pathogenic to young nymphs, followed by old nymphs and adults. The LC(50) values of the fungus on nymphs and adults showed a declining trend over a 2–7-day period after inoculation. The LT(50) (lethal time for a certain concentration to cause 50% mortality) values also presented a decreasing trend along with increasing conidia concentrations. For the results on greenhouse experiments, when 3rd and 5th instar nymphs were inoculated with 1 × 10(5) conidia mL(−1), the survival rate of nymphs were lower, and the emergence rate of adults and female longevity was significantly reduced compared with the control. However, there were no significant effects on sex ratio of adults and male longevity. Our results showed SCAU-CFDC01 was highly pathogenic to D. citri, and may promote mycoparasite development for biological control of D. citri.