Toxic Metabolites of Beauveria bassiana Quiz

Secondary Metabolites and Their Effects

• Common secondary metabolite causing tetanic paralysis in insects: Meliacine.

Entomopathogenic Fungi

• Beauveria bassiana is the entomopathogenic fungus that effectively targets scale insects, whiteflies, thrips, aphids, and grasshoppers.

Toxins and Inhibitors

• The Cordycepin toxin acts as an inhibitor of mitochondrial and prokaryotic ATPases.

Deuteromycota Fungi

• A notable Deuteromycota fungus that produces hirsutellin in vitro is Hirsutella.

Cordyceps Anamorph

• The anamorph of Cordyceps is known as Anamorph Cordyceps.

Pathogenic Fungi

• A registered pathogenic fungus in the US is Beauveria bassiana, known for inhibiting insect cell growth in culture.

Pigments and Compounds

• Beauveria bassiana produces a red pigment characterized as violacein, which exhibits microbial toxicity alongside beauvericin and bassianolide.

Invasion Factors

• Factors that do NOT affect the successful invasion of an insect host by Beauveria bassiana include host color.

Mechanism of Action

• Beauveria bassiana primarily causes death in infected insect hosts through hyphal penetration and toxin production.

Immunosuppressants

• An immunosuppressant compound produced by Beauveria bassiana is bassianolide.

Cuticle Penetration

• Components NOT involved in penetration of the insect cuticle by Beauveria bassiana: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Common Names and Reproduction

• Common name for the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae: Green Muscardine Fungus.
• Primary means of reproduction for fungi in the Phylum Deuteromycota: asexual reproduction via conidia.

Pathogens of Mites

• A pathogenic fungus targeting the eriophyid rust mite is Hirsutella burkei.

Characteristics of Deuteromycota

• A characteristic of fungi in Phylum Deuteromycota that infect insects: production of asexual spores.

Characteristics of Beauveria bassiana

• Key characteristic of Beauveria bassiana: entomopathogenic lifestyle, enabling it to decimate insect populations.

Resting Structures

• The function of resting or overwintering structures in fungi from the Deuteromycota phylum is survival during adverse conditions.

Loculoascomycetes Class

• A defining characteristic of fungi in the Loculoascomycetes class: presence of locules (small cavities) that contain ascospores.