Abstract
Entomopathogenic fungi are the only insect pathogens able to infect their host by adhesion to the surface and penetration through the cuticle. Although the possibility of fungal infection per os was described almost a century ago, there is an information gap of several decades regarding this topic, which was poorly explored due to the continuous elucidation of cuticular infection processes that lead to insect death by mycosis. Recently, with the advent of next-generation sequencing technologies, the genomes of the main entomopathogenic fungi became available, and many fungal genes potentially useful for oral infection were described. Among the entomopathogenic Hypocreales that have been sequenced, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin (Cordycipitaceae) is the main candidate to explore this pathway since it has a major number of shared genes with other non-fungal pathogens that infect orally, such as Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae). This finding gives B. bassiana a potential advantage over other entomopathogenic fungi: the possibility to infect through both routes, oral and cuticular. In this review, we explore all known entry gates for entomopathogenic fungi, with emphasis on the infection per os. We also set out the fungal infection process in a more integral approach, as a need to exploit its full potential for insect control, considering all of its virulence factors and the conditions needed to improve its virulence against insect that might offer some resistance to the common infection through the cuticle.
Highlights
Over the last 400 million years, fungi and insects have coexisted, developing interactions in different ways [1,2]
We set out the fungal infection process in a more integral approach, as a need to exploit its full potential for insect control, considering all of its virulence factors and the conditions needed to improve its virulence against insect that might offer some resistance to the common infection through the cuticle
Pathogenicity is a characteristic that has evolved in the major fungal families; becoming the most abundant natural pathogens found in arthropod populations, mostly the hypocrealean Beauveria bassiana s.l. and Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. [3,4]
Summary
Over the last 400 million years, fungi and insects have coexisted, developing interactions in different ways [1,2]. The main characteristic of entomopathogenic fungi, unlike other insect pathogens such as bacteria or viruses, is the ability to infect their hosts by penetrating through the cuticle without the need to be ingested. They have a great potential for controlling sucking insects, which are either agriculture pests (e.g., aphids, leafhoppers, stink bugs, thrips) or disease vectors (e.g., mosquitoes, kissing bugs, tse tse flies). Infection by ingestion is a rare route for entomopathogenic fungi, but quite common for other pathogens such as protozoa, bacteria, and viruses, which display a series of virulence factors that pathogens such as protozoa, bacteria, and viruses, which display a series of virulence factors that allow them to be ingested and infect from the oral cavity and/or intestinal tract [6].
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