Kerala Agricultural University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE,VELLAYANI
Department of Agricultural Entomology
PROGRAMME OF RESEARCH WORK FOR THESIS FOR
MASTER’S DEGREE
MAJOR ADVISOR ARCHANA SHAJI
DR. ANIS JOSEPH.R. 2024-11-024
Title Of The Thesis
Endophytic efficiency of
entomopathogenic fungus
in tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the beneficial effects of entomopathogenic fungi,
B. bassiana and M. anisopliae and understand the events and
processes of endophytic and phyllosphere colonization on
tomato plants using different inoculation methods and how
colonization of the host plant affects the key pests of tomato.
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9. Outline of the Technical programme
9.1. Standardization of inoculation method
Invitro studies will be conducted to assess the mechanism of colonization of
endophytic entomopathogenic fungi in tomato. The following entomopathogenic
fungi will be tested for their endophytic association, through different inoculation
methods, using their respective field doses.
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Fungi under evaluation
1. Beauveria bassiana (BB-5) @ 1x108 conidia ml-1
2. Beauveria bassiana (BB-606) @ 1x108 conidia ml-1
[Link] anisopliae (MA-4)@1x108 conidia ml-1
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Treatments
i. Soil drenching
ii. Seed coating
[Link] soaking
iv. Radicle dressing Design CRD
Number of Treatments 10
v. Root dipping
Number of Replications 3
[Link] spraying
[Link] spraying
[Link] plugs in soil
[Link] brushing
x. Untreated control 6
10.1 Observations to be recorded
i. Presence of inoculated organism will be assessed by reisolation from soil, seed,
leaf, stem and root samples at fortnightly intervals
ii. No. of colonies of the organism (if applicable)
iii. Presence of other organisms if any
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9.2 Standardization of EPF dose
• Three most successful inoculation methods and the endophytic EPF will be
subjected to detailed investigations on the epiphytic, endophytic and
phyllosphere colonization on tomato plants through SEM/ electron microscopy
studies.
Treatments Design CRD
T1- B. bassiana (BB-5) talc @ 20g/L Number of 7
Treatments
T2- B. bassiana (BB-5) talc @ 30g/L
Number of 3
T3- B. bassiana (BB-606) talc @ 20g/L Replications
T4- B. bassiana (BB-606) talc @ 30g/L
T5- M. anisopliae (MA-4) talc @ 20g/L
T6- M. anisopliae (MA-4) talc @ 30g/L
T7- Untreated control
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10.2 Observations to be recorded
i. Ultra microscopy/SEM of fungal endophytic colonization in plant tissues
ii. Plant height
iii. Root length
iv. Number of leaves
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9.3 Field efficacy to assess the performance of
successful associations
Based on the results of the In vitro studies, successful association if any, will be tested
for their performance in the field by conducting pot culture experiments against the key
pests of tomato.
Design CRD
Number of Treatments n
Number of Replications n
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10.3 Observations to be recorded
i. Pest incidence by scoring
ii. Natural enemy population
iii. Disease incidence by scoring
iv. Plant biomass at harvest
v. Root length
vi. Plant height
vii. Yield per plant
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9.4 Statistical Analysis
Observations will be subjected to statistical analysis adopting Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA).
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Advisory Committee
Advisory Name Designation Department
Committee
Dept. of Agri. Entomology,
Major advisor Dr. Anis Joseph. R. Assistant Professor COA, Vellayani
Dept. of Agri. Entomology,
Member Dr. Reji Rani O.P Professor and Head COA, Vellayani
Member
Member
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THANK YOU
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