Larvicidal effects of endophytic and basidiomycete fungus extracts on Aedes and Anopheles larvae (Diptera, Culicidae)

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Augusto Bucker, Nadia Cristina Falcao Bucker, Antonia Queiroz Lima de Souza, Auricelia Matos da Gama, Edson Rodrigues-Filho, Fabio Medeiros da Costa, Cecilia Veronica Nunez, Ademir Castro e Silva, Wanderli Pedro Tadei
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2013
• Subjects: Endophytic fungi; Saprophytic fungi; Larvicidal; Tropical diseases; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0063-2013; https://doaj.org/article/27bfeb683b9741c4b2ae04f40b37260c

Introduction In vitro bioassays were performed to access the larvicidal activity of crude extracts from the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis virgulata (Melanconiales, Amphisphaeriaceae) and the saprophytic fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus (Basidiomycetes, Polyporaceae) against the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Anopheles nuneztovari. Methods The extracts were tested at concentrations of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500ppm. Ethyl acetate mycelia (EAM) extracts and liquid culture media (LCM) from Pe. virgulata and Py. sanguineus were tested against third instar larvae of Ae. aegypti and An. nuneztovari. Results The larvicidal activity of the EAM extracts from Pe. virgulata against Ae. aegypti had an LC50=101.8ppm, and the extract from the basidiomycete fungus Py. sanguineus had an LC50=156.8ppm against the Ae. aegypti larvae. The Pe. virgulata extract had an LC50=16.3ppm against the An. nuneztovari larvae, and the Py. sanguineus extract had an LC50=87.2ppm against these larvae. Conclusions These results highlight the larvicidal effect of EAM extracts from the endophyte Pe. virgulata against the two larval mosquitoes tested. Thus, Pe. virgulata and Py. sanguineus have the potential for the production of bioactive substances against larvae of these two tropical disease vectors, with An. nuneztovari being more susceptible to these extracts.