ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1583850
Microsclerotia formation of the biocontrol fungus Cordyceps javanica IF-1106 and evaluation of its stress tolerance and pathogenicity
Provisionally accepted
- Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
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Cordyceps javanica IF-1106 is an entomopathogenic fungus with a wide range of hosts. It produces microsclerotia in liquid media. Spores germinate quickly, and hyphal elements clump together, forming hydrophobic microsclerotia. The microsclerotia have 100% survival under 55℃ and UV-B radiation of 3 J cm -2 .Following such exposure, the microsclerotia are able to germinate and produce conidia. After 1 year of storage at either room temperature (25℃) or refrigeration (-80℃, -20℃, 4℃), all the microsclerotia germinated and spore yield was more than 4×10 9 spores g -1 . Finally, C. javanica IF-1106 microsclerotia showed ovicidal activity against root-knot nematode eggs, and a glasshouse pot trial indicated that control efficiency of microsclerotia against root-knot nematodes reached 92.6%, which improved the growth of the test cucumber plants. These attributes suggest that microsclerotia of this fungus can be applied as a biocontrol agent to control soil borne pest nematodes.• Microsclerotia of Cordyceps javanica IF-1106 had higher hydrophobicity than other cell types.• Microsclerotia of C. javanica had 100% survival after treated at 55℃ for 3 h or by UV-B radiation for 3 J cm -2 .• Microsclerotia had 100% viability after one year of storage at 25℃.• Microsclerotia showed high ovicidal activity against root-knot nematode and had a positive impact on cucumber growth.
Keywords: entomopathogenic fungi, Cordyceps javanica, microsclerotia, Cell surface hydrophobicity, Environmental persistence, pathogenicity
Received: 26 Feb 2025; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Li, Cai, Gao, Diao, Xiang, Zhou and Ma. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wenwen Zhou, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
Ruiyan Ma, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
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