Combining Metarhizium anisopliae with spinetoram synergistically suppresses Frankliniella occidentalis via reciprocal enhancement
4 affiliations
- 1School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
- 2Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Fungal Insecticide, Chongqing, China
- 3Chongqing Shapingba District Plant Protection and Inspection Station, Chongqing, China
- 4Shandong Key Laboratory for Green Prevention and Control of Agricultural Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, China
Abstract
The combination of insecticides and entomopathogenic fungi, valued for both high efficacy and environmental compatibility, has become an important strategy for sustainable pest management, and their efficient combinations and underlying mechanisms have emerged as key research topics. Metarhizium anisopliae CQMa421 combined with compatible spinetoram exerts synergistic insecticidal activity against Frankliniella occidentalis, enhancing pest susceptibility to spinetoram, suppressing second-generation nymph, pupa and adult populations, and reducing the overall pupation rate. Mechanistically, the combined treatment upregulated the resistance target nAChRα6 and disrupted the activity of resistance-associated detoxifying enzymes (GST, CarE, POD, and CYP450) compared with spinetoram, while downregulating immune genes (GNBP1/2, Spätzle1/2, MyD881, Defensin, and PPO) compared with CQMa421. Accordingly, the median times for spore germination (GT50) and appressorium formation (AT50) of CQMa421 on the thrips cuticle were significantly shortened. Field trials showed that the combination (1 × 107 conidia/mL CQMa421 + 10 mg/L spinetoram) provided superior rapid and persistent control (90.67% at 3 d; 86.33% at 14 d) compared with spinetoram at 20 mg/L (74.33% and 43.33%, respectively). Consistently, in the continuous control trial (six applications of the combined treatment vs nine of spinetoram), the combined treatment maintained significantly lower thrips population densities during peak infestation. This study shows that CQMa421 combined with spinetoram disrupts detoxification enzyme activity, enhances pesticide sensitivity in F. occidentalis, and facilitates early cuticular colonization by CQMa421, achieving synergistic control efficacy through reciprocal enhancement. This synergism was validated under field conditions. These findings provide a theoretical and practical basis for effective, safe field fungal-chemical control.
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BibTeX
@article{yu2026combining,
title = {{Combining Metarhizium anisopliae with spinetoram synergistically suppresses Frankliniella occidentalis via reciprocal enhancement}},
author = {Lu Yu and Jing Chen and Yuxian Xia and Biao Guo and Yi Yu and Guoxiong Peng},
journal = {Virulence},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1080/21505594.2026.2753272},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2026.2753272},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Combining Metarhizium anisopliae with spinetoram synergistically suppresses Frankliniella occidentalis via reciprocal enhancement
AU - Lu Yu
AU - Jing Chen
AU - Yuxian Xia
AU - Biao Guo
AU - Yi Yu
AU - Guoxiong Peng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Virulence
DO - 10.1080/21505594.2026.2753272
UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2026.2753272
AB - The combination of insecticides and entomopathogenic fungi, valued for both high efficacy and environmental compatibility, has become an important strategy for sustainable pest management, and their efficient combinations and underlying mechanisms have emerged as key research topics. Metarhizium anisopliae CQMa421 combined with compatible spinetoram exerts synergistic insecticidal activity against Frankliniella occidentalis, enhancing pest susceptibility to spinetoram, suppressing second-generation nymph, pupa and adult populations, and reducing the overall pupation rate. Mechanistically, the combined treatment upregulated the resistance target nAChRα6 and disrupted the activity of resistance-associated detoxifying enzymes (GST, CarE, POD, and CYP450) compared with spinetoram, while downregulating immune genes (GNBP1/2, Spätzle1/2, MyD881, Defensin, and PPO) compared with CQMa421. Accordingly, the median times for spore germination (GT50) and appressorium formation (AT50) of CQMa421 on the thrips cuticle were significantly shortened. Field trials showed that the combination (1 × 107 conidia/mL CQMa421 + 10 mg/L spinetoram) provided superior rapid and persistent control (90.67% at 3 d; 86.33% at 14 d) compared with spinetoram at 20 mg/L (74.33% and 43.33%, respectively). Consistently, in the continuous control trial (six applications of the combined treatment vs nine of spinetoram), the combined treatment maintained significantly lower thrips population densities during peak infestation. This study shows that CQMa421 combined with spinetoram disrupts detoxification enzyme activity, enhances pesticide sensitivity in F. occidentalis, and facilitates early cuticular colonization by CQMa421, achieving synergistic control efficacy through reciprocal enhancement. This synergism was validated under field conditions. These findings provide a theoretical and practical basis for effective, safe field fungal-chemical control.
SN - 2150-5594
SN - 2150-5608
ER -