Floating spores kill malaria mosquito larvae

Malaria is spread by mosquitoes which breed in open water and spend much of their larval stage feeding on fungi and microorganisms at the water surface.

New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Parasites and Vectors presents a method of dispersing pathogenic fungi as a means of preventing the spread of malaria.

The parasite (genus Plasmodium), which causes malaria, is transmitted to humans with mosquito saliva during a bite, where it invades the liver and red blood cells causing fever. Once infected, it can be difficult for a human host to recover because some species of Plasmodium are able to lie dormant and evade antimalarial drugs. These parasites are also becoming resistant to the antimalarials taken to prevent infection. An alternative way of reducing the risk of malaria infection is to kill the mosquitoes. The fungi, M. anisopliae and B. bassiana, cause muscardine disease in mosquito larvae, leading to their death before they can pupate and develop into the adult form.

Tullu Bukhari and colleagues from the Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, have used a synthetic oil (ShellSol T) as a means of dispersing fungal spores over the surface of water. The oil-spore preparation is easy to mix and use of the oil improved the dispersal of spores across the water. This simple formulation increased both the persistence and effectiveness of spores, killing up to 50% more larvae than untreated spores and reducing pupation levels to less than 20% at a test site in Kenya.

Speaking about the research Tullu Bukhari said, “these fungi provide an effective means of controlling malaria mosquitoes. Both spores and the oil have minimal risk to fish and aquatic organisms and so are also environmentally safe.”

Notes to Editors

1. Development of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana formulations for control of malaria mosquito larvae
Tullu Bukhari, Willem Takken, and Constantianus J.M. Koenraadt
Parasites and Vectors (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.

2. Parasites and Vectors is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal dealing with the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts, vectors and vector-borne pathogens.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

Media Contact

Dr. Hilary Glover EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.biomedcentral.com

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Results for control of pollutants in water

Brazilian scientists tested a simple and sustainable method for monitoring and degrading a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, compounds present in fossil fuels and industrial waste. An article published in the journal Catalysis…

A tandem approach for better solar cells

Perovskite-based solar cells were first proved in 2009 to have excellent light-absorbing properties of methylammonium lead bromide and methylammonium lead iodide, collectively referred to as lead halide perovskites or, more…

The behavior of ant queens is shaped by their social environment

Specialization of ant queens as mere egg-layers is reversible / Queen behavioral specialization is initiated and maintained by the presence of workers. The queens in colonies of social insects, such…

Partners & Sponsors