Anticarsia gemmatalis nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgMNPV) is being used in Brazil as a biological insecticide. Host plant resistance of soybean to insects is been searched for and some authors have mentioned the interference of plant chemistry in virus efficiency. Interactions among soybean extracts of genotypes used as a source of resistance (PI 274454 and PI 227687) with different AgMNPV concentrations in populations of A. geatalis susceptible (S) and resistant (R) to the virus were studied at laboratory condition. Higher mortality was observed when larvae fed on diets with extracts of the soybean genotypes compared with those fed on a plain diet (control). The mean lethal concentration (LC50) was reduced about 10 ties in the S-population fed on diets containing PI 274454 extracts and different concentrations of AgMNPV, compared to control diet. Additive effect was predominantly observed when larvae fed on diets with extracts of soybean genotypes (PI 274454 and PI 227687) and AgMNPV for both larval populations. The pupal weight was negatively influenced by the extracts incorporated to the diets compared to control, for both larval populations, notably for R-population. The results suggest that, in general, leaf extracts of soybean resistant genotype did not cause any harmful effect on virus efficiency.
velvetbean caterpillar; baculovirus; leaf extracts; resistant genotypes; soybean
