Expression of Bacillus thuringiensis toxin Cyt2Ba in the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana increases its virulence towards Aedes mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has been widely used to kill mosquito larvae and adults in the laboratory and field. However, its slow action of killing has hampered its widespread application. In our study, the B. bassiana fungus was genetically modified to express the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin Cyt2Ba to improve its efficacy in killing mosquitoes.

Methodology/principal findings

The efficacy of the wild type (WT) of B. bassiana and a transgenic strain expressing Cyt2Ba toxin (Bb-Cyt2Ba) was evaluated against larval and adult Aedes mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) using insect bioassays. The Bb-Cyt2Ba displayed increased virulence against larval and adult Aedes mosquitoes compared with the WT: for Ae. aegypti adults, the median

SUBMITTER: Deng SQ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6667155 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature