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Influence of Si in maize plants in Kenyan populations of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

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Abstract

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), native to the Americas, was confirmed in West and Central Africa in 2016 and reported in almost all countries of sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, becoming thereafter one of the major constraints on the production of maize, the main staple food crop in the region. Cereals depend on silicon (Si)-based defences to fight off herbivores. Both FAW strains, namely rice and corn strains, have been found to be present in Kenya. The present study tested the influence of Si on larval survival and relative growth rate according to the FAW strain, using potted maize plants treated with 10 and 20 g of Si. The results showed that plants treated with Si disturbed the larval growth of FAW larvae only from the corn strain but not from the rice strain. Overall, the corn strain performed better on maize as compared to the rice strain regardless of Si treatment, explaining why it has become the most abundant strain in Africa.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Université Kongo (U.K.) for funding the PhD fellowship under the grant number 006/U.K./REC/OGN/2019, icipe Capacity Building Program (DRIP) and CIMMYT-Nairobi for hosting the PhD student. This research was funded by the ‘Institut de Recherche pour le Développement’ (IRD)-France through the IRD Collaborative Research project (grant number B4405B) and the integrated pest management strategy to counter the threat of invasive fall armyworm to food security in eastern Africa (FAW-IPM) (grant number DCI-FOOD/2017/) financed through the European Union. We also acknowledge the financial support for this research by the following organizations and agencies: the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Kenyan Government. Thanks are also due to the stemborer rearing unit at the ARCU, icipe, especially to Josphat Akhobe and Enock Mwangangi, for rearing and supplying insect larvae and artificial diets and to Daisy Ongaya for preparing the leaf powder for Si analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Université Kongo, Mbanza-Ngungu, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Ovide Nuambote-Yobila

  2. Institut Diversité Ecologie et Evolution du Vivant (IDEEV), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, UMR Évolution, Génomes, Comportement et Écologie, 91198, Gif-sur- Yvette, France

    Ovide Nuambote-Yobila, Frédéric Marion-Poll & Paul-André Calatayud

  3. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), P.O. Box 1041-00621, Nairobi, Kenya

    Anani Yaovi Bruce

  4. International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Ovide Nuambote-Yobila, Boaz Musyoka, Elijah Njuguna, Fathia Khamis, Sevgan Subramanian & Paul-André Calatayud

  5. Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Paris, France

    Ovide Nuambote-Yobila & Frédéric Marion-Poll

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  1. Ovide Nuambote-Yobila
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Nuambote-Yobila, O., Musyoka, B., Njuguna, E. et al. Influence of Si in maize plants in Kenyan populations of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Phytoparasitica 50, 1025–1032 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-022-01018-x

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