Fungi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fungi - Essay Example Strains of two fungi, according to Enserink (2005:p.1531), called Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, have been found to kill mosquitoes. Several different strains of each fungus exist, and there is one to kill almost any insect species, says Christiaan Kooyman, who studies locust control using fungi, at Benin (as quoted in Enserink, 2005: p.1531). Kooyman adds that since mosquitoes are increasingly becoming resistant to chemical pesticides, new control tools such as biopesticides are necessary. Among the major groups of microbes, fungi and viruses are well known for causing dramatic epizootics (epidemic animal disease) resulting in rapid decline of insect populations (Hokkanen (Ed.). 2003: p.15). These agents, used for classical biological control, are expected to establish themselves in the environment, persist to survive and grow, and increase in density in response to increases in host population density. Dynamic interactions between the pathogen, insect host and environment influence the epizootics, and the efficacy of mycoinsecticides (Esser; Lemke, 2001: p.111). consumption, is not required as in infection caused by other entomopathogens such as bacteria, protozoa and viruses (Mukerji, et al, 2001: p.39). According to Kinghorn; Turner (1992: p.178), entomopathogenic fungi invade their hosts by direct penetration of the insect cuticle, a process that is likely to involve both mechanical pressure and enzymic hydrolysis. Another desired attribute is host-specificity (Eilenberg, et al, 2001, quoted in Hajek, et al, Hokkanen (Ed.). 2003: p.16). Whether organisms other than the target hosts remain unaffected by the fungal infection continues to be under research. Fungi infect a broader rangeof insects than do other microorganisms. The host ranges of some of the fungi, like Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae are very broad, and encompass most of the