Insecticidal activity of toxic crude proteins secreted by entomopathogenic fungi against Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae)

The housefly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), a major insect pest in poultry and dairy farms, has developed resistance against a variety of insecticides worldwide. In order to avoid resistance development and negative impacts of insecticides, the use of entomopathogenic fungi can be an effective option for the management of M. domestica. The present study was performed to derive toxic crude proteins from entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae and Isaria fumosorosea and test their effect on survival of M. domestica. The crude proteins produced in Czapek medium by the six different isolates (two each) of the entomopathogenic fungi were tested against adults of M. domestica. A significant effect was observed on the survival of M. domestica, ranging from 52.0 to 91.0% mortality. Isolates Bb-01, Ma-4.1, and If-03 showed maximum percent mortalities. These three isolates also exhibited concentration and exposure time based response toward survival of M. domestica. The crude protein concentrations i.e., 8 and 10 mg/ml caused the maximum mortality (100.0%) of M. domestica population in 2.77 to 3.77 days. In addition, the lowest exposure of duration (96 hrs) of houseflies to B. bassiana (Bb-01) crude protein (10 mg/ml) caused 100.0% mortality of tested population as compared to other isolates. In conclusion, crude proteins of entomopathogenic fungi showed good potential for the eco-friendly management of M. domestica. However, further purification of the anti-insect proteins and their evaluation under field conditions is required.