Using an Antarctic fungus as a wintertime biopesticide

问题：黑藤象甲(BVW)正在给英国软果种植者造成严重破坏，据估计，仅草莓和蓝莓每年就损失1000万GB。其幼虫在土壤中越冬，对植物的根造成巨大的破坏，最终杀死植物。草莓的危害非常严重，现在每年都要种植新的植物。随着可用化学杀虫剂的减少，适合控制BVW的产品范围正成为一个令人担忧的问题。大松象甲(PW)是英国和爱尔兰针叶树恢复中最严重的害虫，也是林业委员会的优先害虫。在缺乏控制措施的情况下，英国各地约50%的幼树可能会消失。2005年的数字显示，英国林业每年的潜在损失为1200万英镑(Torr等人)。2005年林业应用，见：线虫作为生物防治制剂，CABI出版社，Wallingford，第281-293页)。成虫PW在落叶和表层土壤中越冬，这是冬季生物杀虫剂针对的生活期。我们如何解决这个问题？CABI是一家非营利性研究组织，在全球范围内促进可持续农业，BAS是一家极地研究机构，在任何可以增加价值的地方应用其专业知识。他们已经找到了保护英国软果和森林的潜在答案，开发了一种新的生物杀虫剂，基于一种来自南极的真菌。之前的项目已经在实验室中证明，这种真菌在英国冬季温度(0-10摄氏度)下生长旺盛，并具有杀虫活性。CABI和BAS正在开发一种新产品，可以在BVW和PW在土壤中越冬时杀死它们。目前的商业生物杀虫剂对象甲(大多数是线虫)在低于10摄氏度的温度下效果不佳，因此，在这些害虫相对不能移动的冬季月份，因此在打击的最佳时间，几乎没有合适的方法来做到这一点。该项目计划在深秋土壤温度开始下降时将南极真菌应用于土壤。然后这种真菌将开始生长，因为其他自然微生物将处于休眠状态。据设想，随着真菌在土壤中生长，它将遇到BVW/PW并杀死它们。在春天，当本地微生物休眠时，我们预计南极真菌将在竞争中处于劣势。在这个项目中，来自英国各地的土壤将由AlphaBioControl Ltd收集，AlphaBioControl Ltd是一家促进使用可持续作物保护产品的商业公司。然后，CABI将检查南极真菌是否可以杀死收集到的土壤中的BVW和PW。CABI还将确定这种真菌是否会伤害蚯蚓。巴斯从南极洲收集了这种真菌，他将进行生态学研究，以确定这种真菌在不同温度下如何在英国土壤中生长并与其他微生物相互作用。这个项目的成果对于获得监管部门的批准和提供足够的证据是必要的，以使项目团队能够与AlphaBioControl Ltd等商业合作伙伴一起，为进一步的商业化申请Innovate UK或其他行业主导的资金。对最终用户的好处：生物农药生产商将受益于将一种新产品推向市场的机会，该产品填补了温带农业、园艺和林业的空白。软果的生产者将因减少对植物的损害而受益。特别是，草莓种植者可能不需要每年重新种植，节省了劳动力和材料成本，而且减少了对紧急化学干预的需求，这将带来好处。林业将受益，因为他们将有另一个控制PW的选择；实际上，到2020年可能是唯一的选择，因为目前使用的化学杀虫剂正在逐步淘汰。此外，如果我们的产品成功，林业将不需要每年补充那么多的幼树。

The problem: The black vine weevil (BVW) is causing havoc for UK soft fruit growers, with estimated losses for strawberry and blueberry alone of £10 million per annum. Its larvae overwinter in the soil and cause tremendous damage to plant roots, ultimately killing the plant. The damage is so bad in strawberries that new plants are now planted yearly. With the decline in available chemical pesticides, the range of suitable products for BVW control is becoming a cause for concern. The large pine weevil (PW) is the most serious pest of conifer restoration in the UK and Ireland and is a priority pest of the Forestry Commission. In the absence of control measures some 50% of young trees could be lost across the UK. Figures in 2005 put the potential loss to the British forestry industry at £12 million per year (Torr et al. 2005 Forestry applications, in: Nematodes as biological control agents, CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 281-293). Adult PW overwinter in leaf litter and the upper soil layers and this is the life-stage that a winter-time biopesticide would target.How are we addressing the problem?CABI, a not-for-profit research organisation that promotes sustainable agriculture worldwide, and BAS, a polar research institute that applies its expertise globally wherever it can add value, have found a potential answer to protecting British soft fruits and forests by developing a new biopesticide, based on a fungus sourced from the Antarctic. Previous projects have demonstrated, in the laboratory, that the fungus thrives at British winter temperatures (0-10 C) and has insect-killing activity. CABI and BAS are developing a new product to kill BVW and PW while they overwinter in the soil. Current commercial biopesticides for weevils (the majority of which are nematodes) work poorly at temperatures below 10 C, hence over the winter months when these pests are relatively immobile, and therefore at a 'perfect' time to be hit, there are few suitable means of doing so. This project plans to apply the Antarctic fungus to soils in late autumn when soil temperatures start to decline. The fungus will then start to grow as other natural microorganisms will be dormant. It is envisaged that as the fungus grows through the soil it will encounter BVW/PW and kill them. In spring, when native microorganisms exit dormancy, we expect the Antarctic fungus to be outcompeted. In this project soils from around the UK will be collected by AlphaBioControl Ltd, a commercial company promoting the use of sustainable crop protection products. CABI will then examine if the Antarctic fungus can kill BVW and PW in the soils collected. CABI will also determine if the fungus harms earthworms. BAS, who collected the fungus from Antarctica, will carry out ecological studies to determine how the fungus will grow and interact with other microorganisms in UK soils under different temperatures. The outputs of this project will be necessary for obtaining regulatory approval and to provide sufficient evidence to enable the project team, together with a commercial partner such as AlphaBioControl Ltd, to apply for Innovate UK or other industry-led funding for further commercialisation.Benefit to end-users:Biopesticide producers will benefit from the opportunity to bring a new product to market which fills a gap in temperate agri-, horti- and silviculture. Producers of soft fruit will benefit by reduced damage to plants. In particular, strawberry growers may not need to re-plant annually, saving labour and material costs, and here will be benefits from a reduced need for emergency chemical intervention. Forestry will benefit as they will have another option to control PW; indeed possibly the only option by 2020, as the chemical pesticides presently in use are being phased out. Furthermore, forestry will not need to restock as many young trees on a yearly basis, if our product is successful.