Environmental Entomology (1982) 11, 189-192

J.A. Shadduck, D.W. Roberts and S. Lause (1982)
Mammalian safety tests of Metarhizium anisopliae: preliminary results
Environmental Entomology 11 (1), 189-192
Abstract: Preliminary mammalian safety tests were conducted on the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. No animals died or were clinically ill after injection of or exposure to M. anisopliae. There was no evidence of ocular irritation, and tissue lesions were confined to local sites at which large numbers of spores were collected. There was no histological evidence of spore germination in mammalian tissues. M. anisopliae was recovered from stomach, lung, and spleen after 2 weeks of exposure of mice to dust but not at the end of week 3. Fungi were recovered also from focal gramulomas that followed intraperitoneal injection of M. anisopliae spores into rats. Fungi were recovered from spleens of rats given spores intraperitoneally, but the spleens were sterile 21 days after exposure. We concluded that our tests reveal no evidence of human or mammalian pathogenicity of M. anisopliae.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Donald W. Roberts

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
non-target effects/fate in environm.

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Metarhizium anisopliae (entomopathogen)