Molecular Microbiology Research 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 92-98 http://microbescipublisher.com/index.php/mmr 94 In the figure, a comparison of caged and non-caged plots reveals the actual effectiveness of different pest management methods. By releasing IPM adults, these experiments aim to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides while maximizing pest control. The use of entomopathogenic fungi as biological control agents is a promising alternative strategy. This method uses fungi to infect and kill pests, reducing pest populations without negatively impacting the environment and human health. Entomopathogenic fungi, such as Metarhizium anisopliae, have shown potential as biological control agents against rice pests. Studies have demonstrated that these fungi can suppress populations of rice planthoppers effectively, with control efficiency comparable to chemical treatments and without significant effects on the rice microbiota (Peng et al., 2020). This suggests that entomopathogenic fungi could be integrated into pest management programs to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides, thereby mitigating their negative impacts while maintaining crop yields and quality. 3 Biological Characteristics and Pest Control Mechanisms of Entomopathogenic Fungi 3.1 Biological characteristics Entomopathogenic fungi are a diverse group of organisms that play a crucial role in the biological control of insect pests. These fungi belong to various taxa, with the majority being from the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, including prominent genera such as Metarhizium, Beauveria, and Aspergillus (Afandhi et al., 2020; Budiarti and Nuryanti, 2022; Mangais et al., 2023). They exhibit a complex life cycle that involves the production of infective propagules, which can be conidia or blastospores, that adhere to the insect host's cuticle (Figure 2) (Sharma et al., 2020; Mathulwe et al., 2022). The reproductive mechanisms of these fungi are adapted to ensure the widespread distribution and infection of their insect hosts, with some species capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction (Sharma et al., 2020). Figure 2 Types of entomopathogens (Adopted from Mangais et al., 2023) Image caption: a) B. bassiana infects L. oratorius; b) B. bassiana infects S. coarctata; c) Metarhizium sp infects S. coarctata; d) B. bassiana infects R. dorsalis; e) Metarhiziumsp infects R. dorsalis; f) Hirsutella sp. infected R. dorsalis; g) B. bassiana infects N. lugens; h) Metarhiziumsp infects N. lugens; i) Metarhiziumsp infects N. lugens (Adopted from Mangais et al., 2023) The picture shows the different states of insects after fungal infection, from which different fungi can be observed to form hyphae and spores on the surface of the insect body. The infection performance of each fungus on host insects varies, for example, Beauveria bassiana usually forms a white hyphal layer on the surface of the host insect, while Metarhizium anisopliae forms a green spore layer. Through this study, it can be seen that insect pathogenic fungi play an important role in biological control. These fungi can effectively infect and kill pests, reduce
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