9802635 Boucias This U.S.-Brazil award will support a research collaboration between Dr. Drion G. Boucias of the University of Florida and Dr. Myrian Silvana Tigano of Embrapa/CENARGEN in Brasilia, Brazil. These researchers will study an insect mycopathogen that may be used as a microbial control agent against pest insects. In Brazil, this fungi, Nomuraea rileyi, was used against the velvetbean caterpillar, a pest that infests soybeans, and found it was sufficient to cause a season-long suppression in the population density of that pest insect. Collecting insect population data, soybean data and weather data from sites in North Florida, the Federal District of Brazil and in the central region of Parana, the reseachers will compile, review and analyze an extensive database on the disease agent and its relation to various biotic and abiotic factors. They will develop a joint culture collection that will serve as a valuable research tool from which selected isolates can be screened for development as microbial control agents. The data gathered from these field studies will increase our understanding of how animal mycopathogens operate in an epizootic state without concomitant selection for resistance insects. It may also provide insight into how to manipulate mycopathogens, which are a sustainable resource for pest insect and plant management. ***
