title: Virulence of Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces lilacinus to the engorged female Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum tick (Acari: Ixodidae).
abstract: The tick is a common ectoparasite of livestock and humans, and is responsible for the transmission of pathogens among hosts. Direct and indirect impacts of ticks include limiting the sustainable development of the animal husbandry industry and detrimental effects on human health. Despite these negative effects, the main method of controlling ticks remains the application of chemical acaricides, which can lead to ambient pollution and the development of tick resistance to them. The biocontrol of ticks is one of the alternative control methods that has received recent research attention. The present study used Tenebrio moliter bait methods to collect 13 species of entomopathogenic fungi from different areas in China that were then tested to observe their effects on engorged female Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum ticks. The results showed that more than half of the isolates had some pathogenic effects on the ticks; in particular, two Beauveria bassiana strains (B.bAT01, B.bAT17) and one Metarhizium anisopliae strain (M.aAT26) were highly virulent, causing up to 90% mortality. In addition, H. anatolicum anatolicum females were treated with B. bassiana B.bAT17 using different concentrations of the fungus. Results revealed that B. bassiana B.bAT17 is highly pathogenic against engorged H. anatolicum anatolicum females. This is the first report of the pathogenic effect of entomopathogenic fungi on engorged H. anatolicum anatolicum females. However, studies of the efficiency of this fungus against ticks in the field are required before it can be used for tick management in practice.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou 730046, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Qiaoyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Guiquan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Miling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Huitian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Youquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Aihong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qingli
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Jifei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052982:Beauveria / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010143:Paecilomyces / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D014774:Virulence