Resistance to fungicides in entomopathogenic fungi: Underlying mechanisms, consequences, and opportunities for progress

Although chemical agents are currently the standard in pest control, entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are a commercially important biocontrol agent (BCA) and an important long-term alternative to pest extermination. Many agroecosystems around the world rely on EPFs to control arthropod pest populations below economically feasible levels. The complementarity of these BCAs with conventional crop protection measures will make implementation easier. Fungicides are the third most extensively used plant protection chemical in the world, but despite their usefulness in reducing plant pathogenic fungus in a number of agroecosystems, they have major implications for non-targeted EPFs. As a result, combining fungicides with biological controls can impair the efficacy of both. Diverse ways can be used to improve EPF's pesticidal capabilities and reduce the negative effects of fungicides. Fungicides affect the subsequent steps of EPF infection and need strategic augmentation by employing EPF-compatible fungicides, a proper formulation, mutagenesis and artificial selection, and endophytic EPFs in pest management. Developing aggressive and fungicide-tolerant strains of EPFs by conventional and/or genetic approaches can improve the field persistence and efficacy of EPFs in fungicide-treated agro-ecosystems. The current review paper summarises the effect of fungicide on EPF infection stages and techniques to decrease EPF's fungicide sensitivity.