虫生真菌分子致病机理及基因工程改造研究进展

虫生真菌侵染寄主昆虫的复杂过程可分为体表附着、体壁穿透及体内定殖和致死等不同阶段.近年来,以金龟子绿僵茵(Metarhizium anisopliae)和球孢白僵菌(Beauveria bassiana)为代表的基因功能研究取得了长足的进展,从不同角度阐明了虫生真菌的分子致病机理;同时,基因工程技术的应用为昆虫病原真菌的遗传改良和选育高毒力杀虫菌株开辟了新的途径.对近年来昆虫病原真菌侵染寄主的分子对策及基因工程改造的研究进展进行了综述,并就进一步研究虫生真菌的毒力基因及功能进行了探讨.

Advances in Molecular Pathogenesis and Genetic Engineering of Entomopathogenic Fungi

The complex of insect mycoses by entomopathogenic fungi includes, in general, spore adhering, cuticle penetration, hemocoel colonization and host death. Recent gene function studies of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana have bettered the understanding of the mechanisms of molecular entomopathogenicity that there are different genes involved in different infection stages. With the identifications of different virulent genes and the exploring of exogenous toxins, genetic engineering works have been reviewed in this paper to demonstrate the potentials to improve the control efficacies of mycoinsecticides by the strategy of toxin gene overexpression. Future studies are discussed to further explore fungal virulent genes and their functions during infection processes.