Lecanicillium muscarium CCFEE 5003, isolated in Continental Antarctica, is a powerful producer of extracellular cold-tolerant enzymes. Chitin-hydrolyzing enzymes seems to be the principal extracellular catalytic activities of this psychrotolerant fungus. The production of chitinolytic activities is induced by chitin and other polysaccharides and is submitted to catabolite repression. The chitin...

A medium-sized nest of the Texas leafcutting ant, Atta texana (Buckley), in northern Louisiana was excavated completely, and a three-dimensional model of its external and subterranean features was constructed. In total, 97 fungus gardens, 27 dormancy cavities, and 45 detritus cavities were located. At the lower center of the funnel-shaped nest was a large central cavity, which in winter functio...

The entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium lecanii persists in a highly dynamic network of habitat patches (i.e., a metapopulation) formed by its primary host, the green coffee scale Coccus viridis. Lecanicillium lecanii is an important biological control of both C. viridis and the coffee rust, Hemileia vastatrix. Successfully managing this biocontrol agent will depend on an increased understand...