Parasites and Vectors (2012) 5 (220) - The susceptibility of five ...

Irene Ketseoglou and Gustav Bouwer (2012)
The susceptibility of five African Anopheles species to Anabaena PCC 7120 expressing Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis mosquitocidal cry genes
Parasites and Vectors 5 (220)
Abstract: Background
Malaria, one of the leading causes of death in Africa, is transmitted by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Problems associated with the development of resistance to chemical insecticides and concerns about the non-target effects and persistence of chemical insecticides have prompted the development of environmentally friendly mosquito control agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the larvicidal activity of a genetically engineered cyanobacterium, Anabaena PCC 7120#11, against five African Anopheles species in laboratory bioassays.
Findings
There were significant differences in the susceptibility of the anopheline species to PCC 7120#11. The ranking of the larvicidal activity of PCC 7120#11 against species in the An. gambiae complex was: An. merus < An. arabiensis < An. gambiae < An. quadriannulatus, where < indicates a statistically lower LC₅₀. The LC₅₀ of PCC 7120#11 against the important malaria vectors An. gambiae and An. arabiensis was 12.3 × 10⁵ cells/ml and 8.10 × 10⁵ cells/ml, respectively. PCC 7120#11 was not effective against An. funestus, with less than 50% mortality obtained at concentrations as high as 3.20 × 10⁷ cells/ml.
Conclusions
PCC 7120#11 exhibited good larvicidal activity against larvae of the An. gambiae complex, but relatively weak larvicidal activity against An. funestus. The study has highlighted the importance of evaluating a novel mosquitocidal agent against a range of malaria vectors so as to obtain a clear understanding of the agent's spectrum of activity and potential as a vector control agent.
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Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Gustav Bouwer

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
evaluation - screening - selection

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anopheles gambiae		Nigeria
	Anopheles arabiensis		Zimbabwe
	Anopheles merus		South Africa
	Anopheles quadriannulatus		Zimbabwe
	Anopheles funestus		Mozambique
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (entomopathogen)	Anopheles gambiae
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (entomopathogen)	Anopheles arabiensis
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (entomopathogen)	Anopheles merus
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (entomopathogen)	Anopheles quadriannulatus
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (entomopathogen)	Anopheles funestus