EXPLOITING HOST MOLECULES TO AUGMENT THE VIRULENCE OF MYCOINSECTICIDES

摘要

The present disclosure provides methods of insect control in which fungal expression of insect-derived molecules is exploited for target-specific augmentation of entomopathogenic fungi virulence. The major advantages that depends upon the host molecule (peptide) chosen is the increase in virulence that can be tailored to be host specific, and the development of resistance that is be minimized since the host peptides and/or hormones regulate developmental processes that are species- and tissue-specific. Any adaptive mutations that arise in the targeted insect that could compensate for the fungal-expressed product during infection will lead to developmental defects or a fitness cost far greater than developing resistance to a pesticide. The methods, fungal strains, and nucleic acid constructs of the disclosure have been shown to be effective against a variety of insect host species.