Fungal isolate and crop cultivar influence the beneficial effects of root inoculation with entomopathogenic fungi in strawberry.

Background: Root inoculations of crop plants with beneficial fungi constitute a promising strategy for growth promotion and control of above-ground pests and diseases. Here, strawberry roots (cultivar 'Albion' and 'Pircinque') were inoculated with 25 different Brazilian entomopathogenic fungal isolates of three genera and the effects on Tetranychus urticae oviposition and plant growth were evaluated in greenhouse experiments.

Results: Reductions in the number of T.