title: Allee effect in the infection dynamics of the entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana (Bals) Vuill. on the beetle, Mylabris pustulata.
abstract: Successful infection by Beauveria bassiana as with all other entomopathogenic fungi, is accomplished only at a high conidial dose while, theoretically, a single conidium should be sufficient. Indeed, this is a major deterrent in its use as a biocontrol agent. High pathogen load for infection is required by organisms which display 'Allee' effect. In such organisms, a threshold exists for pathogen dose, below which no infection can be caused. B. bassiana has a semelparous life cycle and, therefore, its infection dynamics are expected to conform to the mass action principle with a linear relationship between dose and successful infection observable as mortality of the insect. Whether the need for a high conidial dose to induce insect mortality by B. bassiana is due to the operation of Allee effect was examined. A sample of 34 isolates was bioassayed on Mylabris pustulata (Coleoptera: Meloidae) at four conidial concentrations. With more than half of the isolates in the sample, the lowest dose tested (10(4) conidia/insect) did not cause insect mortality. Thus, a threshold pathogen load is required to cause successful infection. In these isolates, the dose-mortality relationship was sigmoid. Allee effect is thus identified in the infection dynamics of B. bassiana-M. pustulata system. The isolates that induced mortality at the lowest dose tested are concluded to be highly virulent with a lower threshold dose required for successful infection. With some isolates, at high conidial dose, the infection rate decreased either due to a decrease in the proportion of insects showing mycosis, to the speed of death, or both. Such a response could result from intra scramble competition arising from overload of pathogen at very high dose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, AP, India. kumadevi@eth.net
authors.forename: K Uma
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.forename: C Uma Maheswara
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D006999:Hypocreales / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence