The biochemical effects of two
entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria
bassiana and Metarhizium
anisopliae,
were studied in the 3^rd
instar larvae of Culex pipiens in the laboratory. Results revealed significant
reduction in the total proteins of the treated larvae compared to the control
larvae. The
biochemical studies using (SDS-PAGE) revealed that there was a reduction in the
number of protein bands due to the treatment with either of the two fungi. The obtained results indicated that the application
of entomofungi as larvicidal agents against mosquito larvae caused significant
changes in the total protein profile of Cx. pipiens larvae suggesting that
toxins secreted by these pathogens caused damage to the larval proteins which
finally leads to larval death. The
conclusion is that the fungal pathogens are important as natural biological
control agents of many
insect and other arthropods and frequently cause epizootics that significantly
reduce host population. This study recommends the use of B.bassiana
and M.anisopliae as biological control agents to the control of Cx.
pipiens larvae in order tosuppress this medical vector for public
health.