Metarhizium acridum
Metarhizium acridum | |
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Red locust with sporulating standard isolate of M. acridum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Sordariomycetes |
Order: | Hypocreales |
Family: | Clavicipitaceae |
Genus: | Metarhizium |
Species: | M. acridum
|
Binomial name | |
Metarhizium acridum (Driver & Milner) J.F. Bisch., Rehner & Humber (2009)
| |
Synonyms | |
Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum Driver & Milner |
Metarhizium acridum
Biology
M. acridum almost exclusively infects grasshoppers (order Orthoptera): researchers believe that this has to do with the Mest1 gene which is not present in M. acridum. By taking a strain of M. robertsii that has a nonfunctioning Mest1 gene, researchers found that the mutant was only able to infect Melanoplus femurrubrum, which is consistent with M. acridum activity. This allows the initiation of the infection process on the specific targets. The expression of Mest1 in the entomopathogen M. acridum is triggered by substances that are only found on the waxy coat of the grasshoppers, which explains why this pathogen specifically only targets grasshoppers and locusts.[4]
Applications
Biological Insecticide
M. acridum has been used to control
As of 2012, M. acridum was under consideration by the USDA for release in the Western U.S. for control of native grasshoppers and crickets.[9]
Important isolates
- IMI 330189 (= ARSEF 7486) is the ex-type of the species, originally collected from Niger: the active ingredient of 'Green Muscle'.
- CSIRO FI 985 (= ARSEF 324) is an Australian isolate: the active ingredient of 'Green Guard'.
- EVCH077 (= IMI 382977) has been isolated from an unidentified grasshopper in Benin: the active ingredient of 'NOVACRID'.
Gallery
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CSIRO isolate infecting Australian plague locusts
References
- S2CID 28369561.
- .
- .
- PMID 21731492.
- PMID 11112183.
- ^ "LUBILOSA". Archived from the original on January 15, 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
- ISBN 0-412-62520-2.
- .
- ^ "Rangeland Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Program". USDA-APHIS. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2011.