The variability in esterases of the entomogenous fungus Metarhizium anisopliae was determined electrophoretically on 8.5% polyacrylamide gel. Ten isolates from diverse taxonomic groups of insects were analyzed. The electrophoretic analysis showed differences and similarities between these isolates and it was possible to distinguish six different patterns. The results obtained show a great polym...

Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuellemin, Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin and Vertillium lecanii are entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) that occur naturally in the environment and have a potential as biological control agents against many insect pests. A laboratory study was conducted to mass produce entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and Verticillium leca...

The objective of this work was to evaluate if the immunosuppressant Sandimmun Neoral enhances the activity of Metarhizium anisopliae against the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens. The vulnerability to the pathogen was measured by comparing the mortality rate of worker ants subjected to the following treatments: immunosuppressant+control, immunosuppressant+M. anisopliae, excipient+control, excipient...

Metarhizium spp. are being used as environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical insecticides, as model systems for studying insect-fungus interactions, and as a resource of genes for biotechnology. We present a comparative analysis of the genome sequences of the broad-spectrum insect pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae and the acridid-specific M. acridum. Whole-genome analyses indicate that th...

Strains of insect-pathogenic fungi with high virulence toward certain pest insects have great potential for commercial biological control applications. Identifying such strains has been a central theme in using fungi for biological control. This theme is supported by a persistent paradigm in insect pathology which suggests that the host insect is the predominant influence on the population gene...