''Metarhizium pinghaense'' is a species of
entomopathogenic fungus
An entomopathogenic fungus is a fungus that can kill or seriously disable insects.
Typical life cycle
These fungi usually attach to the external body surface of insects in the form of microscopic spores (usually asexual, mitosporic spores also ...
in the family
Clavicipitaceae
The Clavicipitaceae are a family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genera in the family, but recent work has increased this number to 97.
Phylogeny
Molecular phylogenetic analysis of multigene DNA sequence data in ...
. Some authorities have it as a synonym of ''
Metarhizium anisopliae
''Metarhizium robertsii'' formerly known as ''M. anisopliae'', and even earlier as ''Entomophthora anisopliae'' (basionym) is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a paras ...
''. DNA studies show that it is a good species, with strong bootstrap support.
Researchers in
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳ðž¤ðž¤²ðž¤¢ 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...
have created a strain of ''M. metarhizium'' genetically engineered to produce the venom of an Australian
funnel-web spider; exposure to the fungus caused populations of
anopheles
''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus ''Plasmodium'', which ...
mosquitoes, which spread
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, to crash by 99% in a controlled trial.
References
External links
Clavicipitaceae
Hypocreales genera
Biological pest control
Fungi described in 1996
{{Hypocreales-stub