Soil microorganisms influence biotic and abiotic stress tolerance of crops. Most interactions between plant symbiotic and non-symbiotic soil microorganisms and plants occur in the rhizosphere and are sustained through plant exudation/rhizodeposition. Bioaugmentation, i.e., the introduction or amplification of certain plant beneficial microbes (e.g., entomopathogenic fungi) into the rhizosphere, could contribute to controlling insect crop pests and replacing chemical, environmentally unfriendly insecticides. Wireworms, the soil-burrowing larval stages of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae), are major pests of crops including maize, wheat and potatoes, worldwide. Alternative strategies for controlling wireworms are needed because several chemical pesticides used successfully in the past are being phased out because of their ecotoxicity. Therefore, virulence to Agrioteslineatus L. wireworms and plant beneficial traits of entomopathogenic fungi were investigated in a series of laboratory experiments. Tested taxa included environmentally retrieved Metarhizium brunneum Petch. (two strains), M. robertsii Bisch., Rehner & Humber (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), and Beauveria brongniartii (Sacc.) Petch. and commercially formulated B. bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. (Cordycipitaceae) and Bacillusthuringiensis Berliner 1915 var. kurstaki. In-house reared larvae were dipped in conidial suspension, and maize and wheat seeds were coated with fungal conidia. Metarhizium brunneum strains 1154 and 1868 significantly increased wireworm mortality. Fungi were significantly more often re-isolated from maize than wheat rhizoplanes in laboratory assays. The strains tested were rarely isolated as endophytes. Metarhizium brunneum strain 1154 stimulated wheat growth, while M. robertsii 1880 stimulated maize growth, whereas M.brunneum 1868 and others did not affect root or shoot length or plant biomass significantly in laboratory settings. Metarhiziumbrunneum strain 1868, re-isolated most often from maize rhizoplane, caused the highest wireworm mortality. It was further evaluated whether M.brunneum 1868 can protect maize varieties FeroXXY, LG 34.90 and Chapalu from wireworm damage and promote plant growth at field conditions. Plants of all three varieties stemming from seeds treated with conidia of M. brunneum 1868 showed significantly less wireworm damage 3 to 4 weeks after sowing (5- to 6-leaf stage) resulting in a significantly higher initial maize stand. However, only in the variety LG 34.90 a significant increase of the maize stand was observed at harvest time.

土壤微生物影响农作物的生物和非生物胁迫耐受性。植物共生和非共生土壤微生物与植物之间的大多数相互作用发生在根际中，并通过植物渗出/根际沉积而得以维持。生物增强即，某些植物有益微生物的引入或扩增（例如（病原真菌）进入根际，可能有助于控制农作物害虫和替代化学，对环境有害的杀虫剂。线虫是单击甲虫在土壤中生长的幼虫阶段（鞘翅目：Elateridae），是世界范围内包括玉米，小麦和土豆在内的农作物的主要害虫。需要控制线虫的替代策略，因为过去成功使用的几种化学农药由于其生态毒性而被淘汰。因此，毒力爱国者直系通过一系列实验室实验研究了线虫和昆虫病原真菌的植物有益性状。经测试的分类单元包括环境回收的根瘤菌提取。（两个菌株），罗伯特氏菌 Bisch。，Rehner＆Humber（Hypocreales：锁骨科），以及 勃氏白僵菌（准确）提取。和商业配方巴氏芽孢杆菌（巴尔-克里夫）（Cor科）和芽孢杆菌苏云金 柏林1915变种。 库尔斯塔基。将内部饲养的幼虫浸入分生孢子悬浮液中，并用真菌分生孢子包被玉米和小麦种子。根瘤菌菌株1154和1868显着增加了线虫的死亡率。在实验室分析中，与小麦根瘤菌相比，从玉米中重新分离出的真菌明显更多。测试的菌株很少被分离为内生菌。根瘤菌 1154菌株刺激了小麦的生长，而 罗伯特氏菌 1880年刺激了玉米的生长，而 M.布鲁尼姆 1868年和其他人在实验室环境中并未显着影响根或茎长或植物生物量。 根茎布鲁尼姆从玉米根际平面中最常分离出的1868菌株导致了最高的线虫死亡率。进一步评估是否M.布鲁尼姆1868年可以保护玉米品种FeroXXY，LG 34.90和Chapalu免受线虫伤害，并在田间条件下促进植物生长。所有三种变种的植物均来自经分生孢子处理的种子布鲁尼姆1868年显示，在播种后3至4周（5至6片叶期），线虫的危害明显减少，从而使初始玉米分株显着提高。但是，仅在LG 34.90品种中，收获时玉米的林分明显增加。