Biologicals and their use in plants
Entomopathogenic fungal strains, compositions, and methods of using the strains for reducing overall insect damage.
1. A method of increasing resistance of a plant to a plant pathogen, a pest, or an insect comprising inoculating a plant, a plant part, or an environment of a plant or a plant part with a composition comprising a fungicide and a fungal entomopathogen, wherein the fungal entomopathogen comprises microsclerotia from a Metarhizium species and is sensitive to the fungicide and has insecticidal activity in the presence of the fungicide, wherein the fungal entomopathogen is selected from the group consisting of Metarhizium robertsii 15013-1 (deposited under NRRL accession No. 67073); Metarhizium robertsii 23013-3, (deposited under NRRL accession No. 67075); and Metarhizium anisopliae 3213-1 (deposited under NRRL accession No. 67074).
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a biocontrol agent selected from the group consisting of a bacteria, a fungus, a yeast, a protozoa, a virus, an entomopathogenic nematode, a botanical extract, a protein, a nucleic acid, a secondary metabolite, and an inoculant.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises an agrochemically active compound selected from the group consisting of an insecticide, a bactericide, and a nematicide.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the agrochemically active compound is an insecticide.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the fungicide comprises a fungicide composition selected from the group consisting of azoxystrobin, thiabendazole, fludioxonil, metalaxyl, tebuconazole, prothioconazole, ipconazole, penflufen, and sedaxane.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a compound selected from the group consisting of a safener, a lipo-chitooligosaccharide, a triglucosamine lipoglycine salt, an isoflavone, and a ryanodine receptor modulator.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plant, the plant part, or the environment of the plant or the plant part further comprises a genetically modified or transgenic plant, plant part, or an environment of a genetically modified or transgenic plant or plant part.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the genetically modified or transgenic plant, or plant part, comprises a Coleopteran insecticidal trait.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the Coleopteran insecticidal trait comprises a Bt insecticidal trait, a silencing element, or a Coleopteran insecticidal trait derived from a non-Bt bacteria, an archea, an insect, or animal.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the Coleopteran insecticidal trait derived from a non-Bt bacteria, an archea, an insect, or animal produces a non-Bt insecticidal protein selected from the group consisting of plant-derived insecticidal protein, non-Bt bacterial/archeal-derived insecticidal protein, an animal-derived insecticidal protein, an AfIP-1A and/or AfIP-1 B polypeptide, a PHI-4 polypeptide, a PIP-47 polypeptide, a PIP-72 polypeptide, a PtIP-50 polypeptide and a PtIP-65 polypeptide, a PtIP-83 polypeptide, and a PtIP-96 polypeptide.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the silencing element targets a gene selected from the group consisting of PAT3, RyanR, Sec23, Snf7, vATPase, a COPI α, β, or γ coatomer subunit, and RPS10.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the Bt trait comprises an event selected from the group consisting of event MON863, event MIR604, event 5307, event DAS-59122, event DP-4114, event MON 87411, and event MON88017.