On June 2, the US EPA invited a 15-day consultation on the registration of novel microbial nematicide Purpureocillium Lilacinum Strain PL11, including a manufacturing-use product and 2 end-use products.
These biopesticide products will be used on food crops (i.e., fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices) and non-food crops (i.e., cotton, tobacco and turf) in agricultural and commercial settings. Since some of these products are proposed for use on food crops, a tolerance exemption for pesticide residues will also be established.
Purpureocillium Lilacinumis a common saprophytic, filamentous fungus. It has been isolated from a wide range of habitats including cultivated and uncultivated soils, forests, grassland, deserts, estuarine sediments and sewage sludge. It has also been found in nematode eggs, and occasionally from females of root-knot and cyst nematodes. In addition, it has frequently been detected in the rhizosphere of many crops. When susceptible nematode species eggs, egg masses and/or juveniles are present, it attacks and destroys them.
A particular strain of this microorganism, Paecilomyces Lilacinus(currently known as Purpureocilium Lilacinum)strain 251 is currently authorized under regulation 1107/2009 as an active substance of plant protection products (Commission Directive 2008/44/EC) and also registered in the USA by EPA. There are multiple products based on different strains of this fungus authorized and commercialized as nematicides in different countries of the world.
Purpureocillium Lilacinumstrain PL11 was isolated from root-knot nematode eggs on coffee soils in Caldas, Colombia. The strain PL11 formulation has been reportedly commercialized in other countries for control of plant pathogenic nematodes on various crops.
