Team:Aix-Marseille/Experiments
Experiments
Describe the research, experiments, and protocols you used in your iGEM project. These should be detailed enough for another team to repeat your experiments.
Please remember to put all characterization and measurement data for your parts on the corresponding Registry part pages.
What should this page contain?
- Protocols
- Experiments
- Documentation of the development of your project
Inspiration
Beauveria Bassiana :
Entomopathogenic fungi are natural biopesticides acting through contact. Beauveria Bassiana is capable of infecting a broad range of insect hosts like bed bugs. Our goal is fighting bed bugs worldwide invasive pests, that are invading homes and biting humans for their blood.
Beauveria bassiana was first used as a way of fight against insects in agriculture in Canada, and later on, all over the world. The fungus can easily penetrate bed bug's exoskeleton: the cuticle. Once inside the insect's hemolymph, the fungus feeds and multiplies, causing its death^1. Our objective is to enhance the fungus so that it is highly virulent for bed bugs. We want to reduce the lethal doses and break the bugs. Furthermore, the excessive use of insecticides thickened the bed bug's cuticle. As a result, pest control companies are obliged to increase the insecticides doses.
In the wolrd, entomopathogenic fungi are common and widespread in almost all classes of insects. Only a few of fungi are currently being developed as pathogens against inset pests. Indeed, entomopathogenic fungi are effective against eggs, larvae, intermediate stages and adults. Beauveria bassiana is a white muscardine fungus, originally known as Tritirachium shiotae, grows naturally in soils throughout the world and acts as a pathogen on various insect species causing white muscardine disease.
So, our goal is to use this fungus to fight bed bugs. Indeed, the fungus can easily penetrate bed bug's exoskeleton : the cuticle. Once inside the insect's hemolymph, the fungus feeds and multiplies, causing its death. Our objective is to enhance the fungus so that it is highly virulent for bed bugs. We want to reduce the lethal doses and break the bugs. Furthermore, the excessive use of insecticides thickened the bed bug's cuticle. As a result, pest control companies are obliged to increase the insecticides doses.
Reference :
1. Barbarin A.M., N.E. Jenkins, E.G. Rajotte, et M.B. Thomas, « A preliminary evaluation of the potential of Beauveria bassiana for bed bug control », Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, septembre 2012, vol. 111, no 1, p. 82‑85.
2. Rai D., V. Updhyay, P. Mehra, M. Rana, et A.K. Pandey, « POTENTIAL OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI AS BIOPESTICIDES », 2014, p. 7.