The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo 1835) Vuillemin is an effective alternative control agent against some agricultural pests and biological vectors of important diseases such as Chagas disease. In this work we studied an isolate of Beauveria bassiana from of the town of San Antonio Rayón, Puebla, Mexico and its entomopathogenic effects on Meccus pallidipennis (Stal 1872). P...

Entomopathogenic fungi can produce a series of chitinases, some of which act synergistically with proteases to degrade insect cuticle. However, chitinase involvement in insect fungus pathogenesis has not been fully characterized. In this paper, an endochitinase, Bbchit1, was purified to homogeneity from liquid cultures of Beauveria bassiana grown in a medium containing colloidal chitin. Bbchit1...

the entomopathogenic-fungus-life cycle is associated with the synthesis and secretion of a number of toxic metabolites, including extracellular enzymes and the low-molecular weight compound (toxin). the potential for a successful pathogen relies on the ability to overcome the various host-defence systems. interaction between the fungus, tolypocla-dium (deuteromycetes), its secondary metabolite,...

Susceptibility of Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli (Diptera: Psychodidae) larvae to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschinkoff) Sorokin (Ma79) (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) was evaluated at two different temperatures. The ability of the fungus to reinfect healthy sand flies was followed up for approximately 20 wk and the effect of in vivo repassage on the enhancement of its v...

Cannibalism is common among the Acrididae and the Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex Haldeman (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). This behavior has been proposed as a mechanism for the horizontal transmission of Microsporida and entomopathogenic fungi. Aanecdotal observations suggested that the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes Fabricius (Acrididae), and A. simplex did not eat cadavers that h...

BACKGROUND Filamentous fungi are the most widely used eukaryotic biocatalysts in industrial and chemical applications. Consequently, there is tremendous interest in methodology that can use the power of genetics to develop strains with improved performance. For example, Metarhizium anisopliae is a broad host range entomopathogenic fungus currently under intensive investigation as a biologically...