Comparative cytogenotoxicity and physiological stress endpoints of a Trichoderma asperellum-based biopesticide versus mancozeb and abamectin in plant bioassays.
de Souza VV, de Andrade LR, Trujillo FA, Fontes MMP, Lima Dos Santos N
Biopesticides
When you swap a conventional fungicide in your sprayer for a Trichoderma-based biopesticide, you're not just making a philosophical choice — you're measurably reducing the DNA-damaging load on every seedling in your beds, and this study puts hard numbers on how large that difference actually is.
Scientists tested a pest-control product made from a naturally occurring soil fungus alongside two common chemical pesticides to see how each one stressed plant cells. The fungal product still caused some mild cellular responses, but it didn't scramble plant DNA, break chromosomes, or shut down the tiny energy factories inside cells the way the chemical options did. The chemical pesticides stunted root and shoot growth across four different food crops; the fungal one left those processes largely intact.
Key Findings
The Trichoderma biopesticide did not induce micronuclei — a key marker of DNA strand breaks and chromosomal damage — in onion root cells, while both mancozeb and abamectin did.
Mancozeb and abamectin reduced mitochondrial (cellular energy) activity and inhibited root and shoot development across all four tested crop species (wheat, sorghum, radish, and lettuce); the biopesticide preserved mitochondrial function.
All three treatments suppressed cell division rates (mitotic index), but only the synthetic pesticides caused chromosomal aberrations and cell-cycle dysregulation, indicating the biopesticide's cellular effects are stress responses rather than genotoxic damage.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A fungal biopesticide made from the soil fungus Trichoderma asperellum caused far less DNA damage and cellular disruption in plants than two widely used synthetic pesticides — mancozeb and abamectin — while still providing pest control, supporting its case as a genuinely safer alternative rather than just a marketing claim.
Abstract Preview
The global transition toward sustainable agricultural systems has intensified the search for fungal-based biopesticides, such as Trichoderma asperellum, to replace synthetic pesticides. Although co...
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