Infection of the Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, by the Insect Pathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana

Abstract

The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, is an aggressive agricultural insect pest causing significant damage to a wide range of fruit, vegetable, and ornamental crops. Beauveria bassiana is a broad-host-range entomopathogenic fungus capable of infecting and killing F. occidentalis. Infection of thrips by B. bassiana strain BbYT12 using a concentration of 1 × 108 conidia/mL resulted in 81.48% mortality in adults in 6 d (LT50 = 90 ± 15.1 h). Scanning electron microscopy of the infection process revealed preferential adhesion and germination of fungal spores to inter-segmental folds or grooves on the insect body surface with penetrating germlings and extended hyphae visualized during the initial stages of infection (6–24 h). Histological analyses showed the appearance of in vivo hyphal bodies in sagittal sections and the fat body as early as 24 h post-infection. Within 72 h, hyphal bodies and hyphae could be found throughout the infected organism including in the midgut, Malphigian tubules, alimentary canal, ovarioles (in females), and an extended hyphal network could be seen on insect cadavers (>72 h post-infection). Real-time RT-PCR analyses of the expression of select genes implicated in virulence including the Pr1 protease, beauvericin synthase, involved in the production of the secondary metabolite beauvericin, two cytochrome P450 monooxygenases implicated in cuticular hydrocarbon degradation, two multidrug efflux proteins, a perilipin involved in lipid storage, and the Hog1 MAP kinase and protein kinase A signaling factors revealed discrete patterns of infection-time dependent expression. These data provide basic insights into the process of B. bassiana infection of F. occidentalis.