Metarhizium pinghaense | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Sordariomycetes |
Order: | Hypocreales |
Family: | Clavicipitaceae |
Genus: | Metarhizium |
Species: | M. pinghaense
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Binomial name | |
Metarhizium pinghaense Q.T. Chen & H.L. Guo[1]
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Synonyms | |
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Metarhizium pinghaense is a species of entomopathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae. Some authorities have it as a synonym of Metarhizium anisopliae. DNA studies show that it is a good species,[2] with strong bootstrap support.[3]
Researchers in Burkina Faso have created a strain of M. metarhizium genetically engineered to produce the venom of an Australian funnel-web spider; exposure to the fungus caused populations of anopheles mosquitoes, which spread malaria, to crash by 99% in a controlled trial. [4]