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Can fungal biopesticides control malaria?

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 5, pages 377–383 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent research has raised the prospect of using insect fungal pathogens for the control of vector-borne diseases such as malaria. In the past, microbial control of insect pests in both medical and agricultural sectors has generally had limited success. We propose that it might now be possible to produce a cheap, safe and green tool for the control of malaria, which, in contrast to most chemical insecticides, will not eventually be rendered useless by evolution of resistance. Realizing this potential will require lateral thinking by biologists, technologists and development agencies.

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Figure 1: Infection by fungal entomopathogens.
Figure 2: Biopesticides for the control of locusts and grasshoppers in Africa.
Figure 3: Fungal infection reduces malaria transmission by mosquitoes.
Figure 4: The sustainability of chemical and biological interventions against adult mosquitoes.

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Acknowledgements

Our empirical work is funded by The Wellcome Trust. We are grateful to S. Blanford, K. Vernick and members of the Research Consortium for Novel and Sustainable Approaches of Adult Vector Control Based on Fungi, particularly M. Coetzee, C. Curtis, G. Killeen, B. Knols and W. Takken, for discussion and encouragement. This article was written while A.R. was at the Wissenshaftskolleg zu Berlin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Matthew B. Thomas is at CSIRO Entomology, GPO BOX 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.,

    Matthew B. Thomas

  2. Andrew F. Read is at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and the Institute of Immunology & Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.,

    Andrew F. Read

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Correspondence to Matthew B. Thomas.

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Glossary

Appressorium

A flattened, hyphal 'pressing' organ that is produced by a germinating fungal spore, from which an infection peg grows and penetrates the host cuticle.

Biocontrol

(Also 'biological control'.) The use of live natural enemies such as predators, parasitoids or pathogens to control pest insects, weeds or diseases. The normal ambition is that the introduced organism will be self-sustaining, but it can also include inundative approaches which need not be self-sustaining, as with biopesticides (see below).

Biopesticide

In simplest terms, refers to a pesticide that is biological in origin (that is, viruses, bacteria, fungi). The approach is characterized by repeated applications of a live organism with little or no reliance on the organism to reproduce or be self-sustaining in order to effect control. The biocontrol agent is essentially used as a chemical-pesticide analogue.

Entomological inoculation rate

(EIR). A measure of the frequency with which a human is bitten by an infectious mosquito.

Haemocoel

The body cavity of an arthropod in which most of the major organs are found. It is filled with the arthropod equivalent of blood, named haemolymph.

Oocyst

A walled, vegetatively replicating malaria parasite under the basal lamina of the mosquito midgut in which the transmissible sporozoites form.

Parasite incubation period

The time from infection of the mosquito — following a blood feed from a human host carrying malaria — to the point at which the mosquito is infectious and can transmit the parasite to a new host during a further feeding bout. Throughout large areas of malaria transmission the parasite incubation period is 12–14 days or longer.

Paratransgenic approaches

(Or paratransgenesis.) Genetic manipulation of vector-associated organisms — commensal or symbiotic bacteria, or fungal entomopathogens — to alter the ability of the vector to transmit a pathogen. The insect vector itself is not genetically modified.

Sporozoite

Small elongated cells that arise from repeated division within the oocyst. The malaria sporozoites accumulate in the salivary glands and are introduced into the blood of the vertebrate host by the mosquito bite.

Vectorial capacity

Provides a measure of disease risk as determined by the ability of a vector to successfully transmit disease, and incorporates vector competence, abundance, biting rates, survival rates and parasite incubation period.

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Thomas, M., Read, A. Can fungal biopesticides control malaria?. Nat Rev Microbiol 5, 377–383 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1638

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