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Entomopathogenic fungi are parasitic unicellular or multicellular microorganisms belonging to the kingdom of Fungi, that can infect and seriously disable or kill insects. Pathogenicity for insects is widely distributed in the kingdom of fungi and occur in six fungal phyla (Ascomycota, Oomycetes, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, and ...
Entomophaga is a genus of entomopathogenic fungi in the Entomophthoraceae family and also the order Entomophthorales. [2] This has been supported by molecular phylogenetic analysis (Gryganskyi et al. 2012). [3] Well-known species are Entomophaga grylli and Entomophaga maimaiga, which can infect grasshoppers and gypsy moths respectively.
The fungus was released in the Boston area between 1910 and 1911. By 1912, they summarized their work, stating that extensive releases had never established this fungal pathogen, which they referred to as "gypsy fungus". [1] In the early 1980s, another attempt was made to introduce Entomophaga maimaiga into the wild.
The fungi will soon develop a sporangiophore, the stalk or stem of the fungus. The sporangiophore is an elongated structure that provides support to the body of the fungus and creates spores. [ 16 ] This is done through a process in which the haploid nucleus – a nucleus with half the number of chromosomes for that species [ 17 ] – is ...
Insects, [4] nematodes [5] and fungi [6] that obtain their nutrition from insects are sometimes termed entomophagous, especially in the context of biological control applications. These may also be more specifically classified into predators , parasites or parasitoids , while viruses , bacteria and fungi that grow on or inside insects may also ...
The insect disease caused by the fungus is a muscardine which has been called white muscardine disease. When the microscopic spores of the fungus come into contact with the body of an insect host, they germinate, penetrate the cuticle, and grow inside, killing the insect within a matter of days. Afterwards, a white mold emerges from the cadaver ...
The fungus is sensitive to temperature and when the air temperature is high, the prevalence of the disease decreases to very low levels. [6] Houseflies infected with E. muscae were able to rid themselves of the infection by resting at temperatures that inhibited the growth of the fungus. [ 7 ]
Most species of the entomophthorales produce ballistic asexual spores that are forcibly discharged. When not landing on a suitable host, these spores can germinate to make one of several alternate spore forms, including a smaller version of the original spore, or (in some species) an adhesive spore elevated on a very slender conidiophore called a capilliconidiophore.