Novel dual-action biopesticide for wheat

小麦是英国最重要的商业作物之一，但产量受到真菌病害和虫害的极大限制。禾谷缢管蚜（Rhopalosiphum padi）和麦长管蚜（Sitobion avenae）是小麦的主要害虫，通过直接取食作物和传播病毒（包括BYDV和CYDV）而造成产量损失。这可能会造成巨大的经济损失，例如，如果不加以处理，BYDV将使英国小麦行业每年损失1.36亿英镑。目前的控制方法依赖于合成化学农药，但随着监管限制和抗性水平的提高，迫切需要新的解决方案。本项目旨在鉴定对昆虫和真菌害虫都具有活性的真菌菌株。它将在FA-Bio现有工作的基础上开发新型生物杀真菌剂，开发一种双重作用的生物杀真菌剂和生物杀虫剂，以针对英国谷物中的害虫和疾病。一种双重作用的产品将给农民带来巨大的好处，包括减少与多次使用化学杀虫剂有关的费用，减少重复喷洒造成的机械损害，减少作物产量损失。padi_和S.也具有生物杀真菌活性。还将测试这些真菌扩大生产的能力以及它们的保质期特性，以确保它们符合当前的行业生产标准。实验室试验中最有希望的真菌分离株将用于温室试验，以测试它们在受控环境中对小麦蚜虫的功效。在此之后，将在田间试验中测试真菌分离物保护小麦免受昆虫害虫侵害的能力（R .padi和S.燕麦）和真菌病害（如全蚀病和赤霉病）。在这些实验之后，将选择性能最佳的分离株进行商业化。

Wheat is one of the most commercially important crops in the UK, but yield is greatly constrained by fungal diseases and insect pests. The cereal aphids _Rhopalosiphum_ _padi_ and _Sitobion avenae_ are major pests of wheat and cause yield losses through direct feeding on crops and transmission of viruses including BYDV and CYDV. This can cause large economic losses, e.g. BYDV would cost the UK wheat industry £136M per year if left untreated. Current control methods rely on synthetic chemical pesticides, but with regulatory constraints and increasing levels of resistance, new solutions are urgently needed.This project aims to identify fungal strains that have activity against both insect and fungal pests. It will build on existing work being done by FA-Bio to develop novel biofungicides, by developing a dual-action biofungicide and bioinsecticide to target pests and diseases in UK cereals. A dual-action product would have significant benefits for farmers including reducing the costs associated with multiple applications of chemical pesticides, reducing mechanical damage from repeated spray applications and reducing crop yield losses.This project will carry out laboratory trials to identify fungal strains that cause mortality in _R. padi_ and _S. avenae_ which also have biofungicidal activity. The ability to scale-up production of these fungi will also be tested as will their shelf life properties, to ensure they are compatible with current industry production standards. The most promising fungal isolates from lab-based trials will be used in glasshouse trials to test their efficacy against aphids on wheat in a controlled environment. Following this, fungal isolates will be tested in field trials for their ability to protect wheat from insect pests (_R .padi_ and _S. avenae_) and fungal diseases (such as take-all and Fusarium head blight). Following these experiments, the best performing isolates will be selected for commercialisation.