02376naa a2200337 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400520007410000200012624501410014626000090028730000130029652013440030965000230165365000300167665000260170665000270173265000100175965000110176965000140178065000220179465000350181670000200185170000210187170000160189270000200190870000240192870000290195277300570198121313832021-12-28       2021    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d  a2045-23227 ahttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84142-82DOI1 aMARCIANO, A. F.  aInnovative granular formulation of Metarhizium robertsii microsclerotia and blastospores for cattle tick control.h[electronic resource]  c2021  ap. 1-11.  aAbstract: The tick Rhipicephalus microplus poses a serious threat to the cattle industry, resulting in economic losses aggravated by tick resistance to chemical acaricides. Strains of Metarhizium spp., a well-known group of entomopathogenic fungi, can contribute to managing this ectoparasite. We explored two novel granular, microsclerotia- or blastospores-based formulations of Metarhizium robertsii for R. microplus control under semi-field conditions. Fungal persistence in soil was also observed for 336 days. The experiment used pots of Urochloa decumbens cv. Basilisk grass, treated with 0.25 or 0.5 mg of granular formulation/cm2 (25 or 50 kg/ha) applied to the soil surface prior to transferring engorged tick females onto the treated soil. The fungal granules yielded more conidia with subsequent sporulation under controlled indoor conditions than in the outdoor environment, where the levels of fungus rapidly declined over time. Metarhizium-root colonization ranged from 25 to 66.7% depending on the propagule and rate. Fungal formulations significantly reduced the number of tick larvae during the humid season, reaching at least 64.8% relative efficacy. Microsclerotia or blastospores-granular formulations of M. robertsii can reduce the impact of R. microplus, and thus prove to be a promising tool in the control of ticks.  aBiological control  aBiological control agents  aMetarhizium robertsii  aPesticide formulations  aTicks  aBovino  aCarrapato  aFungo Entomógeno  aFungo Para Controle Biológico1 aMASCARIN, G. M.1 aFRANCO, R. F. F.1 aGOLO, P. S.1 aJARONSKI, S. T.1 aFERNANDES, E. K. K.1 aBITTENCOURT, V. R. E. P.  tScientific Reportsgv. 11, n. 1, article 4972, 2021.