BACKGROUND Increasing incidences of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors are threatening the sustainable use of contemporary chemical vector control measures. Fungal entomopathogens provide a possible additional tool for the control of insecticide-resistant malaria mosquitoes. This study investigated the compatibility of the pyrethroid insecticide permethrin and two mosquito-pathogenic fun...

The susceptibility of the egg, pupa, and adult of Haematobia irritans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae) to isolates of the fungi Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sor., Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill., and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus (Wize) Brown and Smith, was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Groups of 20 eggs than 4 h old, pupae less than 48h old and adults were sprayed with a conidial suspension...

The gene ODC1, which codes for the ornithine decarboxylase enzyme, was isolated from the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae. The deduced amino acid sequence predicted a protein of 447 amino acids with a molecular weight of 49.3 kDa that contained the canonical motifs of ornithine decarboxylases. The ODC1 cDNA sequence was expressed in Escherichia coli cells; radiometric enzyme assa...

Studies were conducted with two different doses of Metarhizium anisopliae var acridum to examine the effects on survival and reproductive potential of adult Schistocerca gregaria under conditions that either limited thermoregulation or enabled optimal thermoregulation. Adult S. gregaria infected with the fungal pathogen showed either a rapid and high mortality at relatively constant temperature...

Microevolutionary adaptations and mechanisms of fungal pathogen resistance were explored in a melanic population of the Greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. Under constant selective pressure from the insect pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, 25(th) generation larvae exhibited significantly enhanced resistance, which was specific to this pathogen and not to another insect pathogenic fungus,...

During desert locust plagues large amounts of insecticides are used for control operations. Drift from these treatments and accidental overspraying may contaminate small surface waters such as temporary ponds. The present study describes methods for static acute toxicity tests with two abundant organisms that occur in temporary ponds in the African Sahel region: the fairy shrimp Streptocephalus...

There is an urgent need to develop biological control methods against the eriophyoid mite, Phyllocoptes gracilis, which causes significant losses in organic raspberry production Europe. The use of entomopathogenic fungi (EF) a sustainable alternative conventional chemical pesticides, reducing risks pesticide resistance and other negative environmental impacts agriculture. objective this study w...

Honeybees, Apis mellifera, show age-related division of labor in which young adults perform maintenance ("housekeeping") tasks inside the colony before switching to outside foraging at approximately 23 days old. Disease resistance is an important feature of honeybee biology, but little is known about the interaction of pathogens and age-related division of labor. We tested a hypothesis that old...

The evolution of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes is threatening the effectiveness and sustainability of malaria control programs in various parts of the world. Through their unique mode of action, entomopathogenic fungi provide promising alternatives to chemical control. However, potential interactions between fungal infection and insecticide resistance, such as cross-resistance, have not ...

Carboxypeptidases may serve as tools for removal of C-terminal affinity tags. In the present study, we describe the expression and purification of an A-type carboxypeptidase from the fungal pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae (MeCPA) that has been genetically engineered to facilitate the removal of polyhistidine tags from the C-termini of recombinant proteins. A complete, systematic analysis of the...