Beauveria bassiana

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Beauveria bassiana

B. bassiana on a maggot

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Fungi
Phylum:	Ascomycota
Class:	Sordariomycetes
Order:	Hypocreales
Family:	Clavicipitaceae
Genus:	Beauveria
Species:	B. bassiana

Binomial name

Beauveria bassiana
(Bals.-Criv.) Vuill.

Beauveria bassiana is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a parasite; it thus belongs to the entomopathogenic fungi. It is being used as a biological insecticide to control a number of pests such as termites, whitefly, different beetles and its use in the control of the malaria-transmitting mosquitos is under investigation. The species is named after the Italian entomologist Agostino Bassi who discovered it in 1835 as the cause of the muscardine disease of silkworms. Beauveria bassiana (formerly also known as Tritirachium shiotae) is the anamorph (the asexually reproducing form) of the fungus species Cordyceps bassiana. The teleomorph (the sexually reproducing form) was discovered in 2001.

Grasshoppers killed by B. bassiana

The disease caused by the fungus is called white muscardine disease. When spores of the fungus come into contact with the body of an insect host, they germinate, enter the body, and grow inside, eventually killing the insect. Afterwards a white mold grows on the cadaver and produces new spores. Most insects living near the soil have evolved natural defenses against the fungus, but many other insects are susceptible.

The fungus does not appear to infect humans or other animals and is considered safe as an insecticide but the spores might cause a problem to people with breathing difficulties.. The microscopic spores are typically sprayed on affected areas; the plan for malaria control is to coat mosquito nets with them.

Beauveria bassiana parasiting on Colorado potato beetle has been reported to be the host of a parasitic fungus Syspastospora parasitica (Posada et al., 2004).

[edit] References

Z. Z. Li, C. R. Li, B. Huang, M. Z. Fan (2001). "Discovery and demonstration of the teleomorph of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill., an important entomogenous fungus". Chinese Science Bulletin 46: 751–753.
Donald G. McNeil Jr., Fungus Fatal to Mosquito May Aid Global War on Malaria, The New York Times, 10 June 2005
"Activity of oil-formulated Beauveria bassiana against Triatoma sordida in peridomestic areas in Central Brazil."[1]
Francisco Posada, Fernando E. Vega, Stephen A. Rehner, Meredith Blackwell, Donald Weber, Sung-Oui Suh, and Richard A. Humber Syspastospora parasitica, a mycoparasite of the fungus Beauveria bassiana attacking the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata: A tritrophic association. J Insect Sci. 2004; 4: 24.