Adult Glossina morsitans morsitans exposed to wet conidia of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae suffered high mortalities ranging from 90 to 100 % by 2 weeks post-exposure. Infected g'~ maintained in the same cages with noninfected ~ throughout the experimental period transmitted the fungal infection to the ~ resulting in mortalities of 65 % with B. bassiana and 55 % with M. anisopliae. Likewise, infected ~ maintained together with non-infected ~'~ transmitted the infection to the ~ resulting in mortalities of 75 % with B. bassiana and 45 % with M. anisopliae. Female tsetse flies infected with B. bassiana and M. anisopliae and maintained in the same cages with non-infected ~ also transmitted infection to the non-infected tsetse resulting in mortalities of 62 % and 48 % with B. bassiana and M. anisopliae respectively. Infected tsetse exposed to non-infected tsetse of the opposite sex for only 30 min were also able to transmit the fungal infection. Pupae produced by female tsetse infected with B. bassiana and M. anisopliae exhibited higher pupal mortality than those produced by non-infected $~. However, pupae exposed directly to dry spores of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae had no increase in pupal mortality but adults emerging from the B. bassiana-exposed pupae had markedly reduced longevity.
KEY-WORDS: Glossina morsitans morsitans, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, transmission, biocontrol.For several decades, the control of tsetse flies has relied heavily on the use of chemical insecticides which cause environmental pollution, indiscriminate killing of all including the useful fauna and which are expensive, especially for the developing countries. Although Glossina spp. are known to have more natural enemies than many other vectors (Gruvel, 1977), very little effort has been made to exploit them for biocontrol of tsetse. P0inar et al. (1977) reported that the entomogenous fungi, Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana and Paecilomyces (Spicaria)farinosus were pathogenic for adult tsetse and caused approximately 30 % mortality, while in pupae, M. anisopliae and B. bassiana caused 5 % infection. More recent studies have revealed that the conidia of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae applied topically on adult tsetse cause mortalities of 60-95 % by 2 weeks post-exposure (Kaaya, 1989). The objectives of this study were therefore to investigate whether fungus-infected adult tsetse can transmit mycosis to non-infected tsetse through physical contact, whether maternal transmission through larva to offspring occurs and whether pupae exposed directly to fungal spores acquire infection and transmit to the emerging adults.
Three 9-acridone alkaloids, melicopicine, tecleanthine and 6-methoxy tecleanthine were isolated from the bark of Teclea trichocarpa. Melicopicine and tecleanthine exhibited mild antifeedant activity against the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta. All the three alkaloids showed antimicrobial activity against the fungus, Cladosporium cucumerinum and the bacterium, Bacillus subtilis.
AimsTo determine antibacterial activity of Ocimum suave essential oils against bacterial uropathogens.Study DesignA cross sectional and experimental study.Place and Duration of StudySix selected hospitals in Bushenyi District, Uganda between June 2012 and July 2013.MethodologyClean catch midstream urine samples were collected and inoculated on Cystine Lysine Electrolyte Deficient (CLED) agar. The plates were incubated at 37°C for 24hrs to 48hrs. The O. suave essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation of leaves for 4hrs using a Clevenger apparatus. The oil was collected and dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) and kept at 4°C till further use. The antimicrobial activity of O. suave essential oils against isolates was determined by agar well method. The MIC of O. suave essential oil extract was carried out by microbroth dilution method.ResultsOf the three hundred (300) midstream urine samples collected, 67(22.33%) had significant bacterial growth. Escherichia coli is the most common isolate (61.19%, n = 41). The essential oil from O. suave showed activity against isolates of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus, E. feacalis, M. morganii, Citrobacter species, Enterobacter species and P. aeruginosa with mean zone of inhibition (ZI) ranging from 10–22 mm. The essential oils had no inhibitory activity on Acinetobacter species. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for O. suave essential oils ranged from 0.78 to 22 μg/ml. This study showed that O. suave essential oils had MIC value of 0.78 μg/ml against S. aureus and MIC values ranging from 3 to 22 μg/ml against the other tested isolates.ConclusionThe most common uropathogen was E. coli (61.19% n = 41). O. suave essential oils exhibited antibacterial activity against majority of the uropathogens, except Acinetobacter species, mean ZI of 10–22 mm and MIC of 0.78 – 22 μg/ml.
Phenolic tsetse attractants in host urine were shown to form gradually from proattractants Identified as a mixture of glucuronates and sulphates. The breakdown of proattractants is predominantly due to microbial activity. Of the eight bacteria isolated from buffalo urine three have demonstrated varying ability to give rise to free phenols the formation of which was monitored by observing the build-up of 4-cresol by means of gas chromatography. These observations may provide a useful biotechnological model for controlled release of these semlochemicals in the field.
The transfer of conidia of Metarhizium anisopliae between tsetse flies Glossina morsitans and the effects of fungal inoculation on mating and blood meal feeding behaviors were investigated in the laboratory. Male or female flies were inoculated with fungal conidia (“donors“) and allowed to pair with fungus-free mate of opposite sex (“recipients”) at 1-day-interval up to three mates. Fungus-treated male or female “donor” flies as well as their mates “recipients” died from fungal infection. However, mortality in male “recipient” flies declined with successive mating, from 82.5 to 32.5 %. Fungus-treated males readily located female flies and mating was successful in most cases comparable to the controls. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in mean duration of mating, number of jerking movements between fungus-treated and fungus-free males for all the mating lines, except in the number of jerking movements when male flies mated with the 3rd line female flies. Fungus-treated and fungus-free female flies previously mated with treated and non-treated males showed refractoriness during subsequent pairings. The number of fertile female flies was higher (P < 0.05) in fungus-free than in fungus-treated treatments, thus producing more pupae. High concentration of fungus (3.0 × 106 conidia ml−1) significantly (P < 0.05) reduced blood meal intake of flies. This study has shown that fungal infection does not affect the mating behavior of tsetse flies and fly-to-fly contamination does occur during matings. These are important attributes if entomopathogenic fungi have to be used in auto-dissemination strategy and be integrated into sterile insect technique.
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