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The effect of mixtures of Bacillus thuringiensis-based insecticide and multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus of Lymantria dispar L. in combination with an optical brightener on L. dispar larvae

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Abstract

This study evaluated the efficacy of the commercially available insecticide Lepidocide based on Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki and Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV) and their combination with an optical brightener to control L. dispar L. Efficacy against both second and fourth instar L. dispar larvae was evaluated, and the type of interaction between the tested components was determined using second instar L. dispar larvae. Most combinations of Lepidocide and LdMNPV containing a 5 mg ml−1 optical brightener had synergistic effects, and their mixtures were most effective in reducing the number of second instar larvae. In contrast, mixtures containing Lepidocide and LdMNPV with an optical brightener caused significantly lower mortality of fourth instar L. dispar larvae than mixtures without Lepidocide. This result suggests that an increased concentration of Lepidocide in a mixture containing LdMNPV and an optical brightener leads to an antagonistic effect on insect mortality. The possible reasons for the differences in the observed effects of the components on the second and fourth instar L. dispar larvae may be associated with the resistance of fourth-instar larvae to the antifeedant effect of B. thuringiensis.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the director of the Karasuk Research Station, Vladimir Shilo for his help in the organization of the experiments. Thanks to Vladislav Suchovolsky (Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS) for consulting in statistical analysis. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their help in improving the manuscript.

Funding

This research was carried out within the Federal Fundamental Scientific Research Programme for 2021–2025 (# 0247-2021-0003) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of Russian Federation (# FZZE-2020-0026). This work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the government of the Novosibirsk region according to the research project # 19-416-543005 and # 19-416-540005.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Yuriy Akhanaev, Sergey Pavlushin, Olga Polenogova, Tatyana Klementeva & Vyacheslav Martemyanov

  2. Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia

    Sergey Pavlushin

  3. Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Darya Lebedeva

  4. State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “VECTOR”, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Olesya Okhlopkova & Alexey Kolosov

  5. Institute of Biology, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia

    Vyacheslav Martemyanov

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  1. Yuriy Akhanaev
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  2. Sergey Pavlushin
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  3. Olga Polenogova
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  4. Tatyana Klementeva
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Correspondence to Yuriy Akhanaev.

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Akhanaev, Y., Pavlushin, S., Polenogova, O. et al. The effect of mixtures of Bacillus thuringiensis-based insecticide and multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus of Lymantria dispar L. in combination with an optical brightener on L. dispar larvae. BioControl 67, 331–343 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-022-10137-7

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