Good news! Eradicate blood suckers!
Apparently, this or similar approaches with Metarhizium have been tried before multiple times in recent years. Thus, this research is not entirely new. My guess is that the combination of attraction and effective killing is new.
"Chinese scientists are using a genetically modified fungus to create highly effective mosquito traps. The engineered Metarhizium constantly releases a scent that draws mosquitoes into fungus-laced traps, where the spores infect and kill them. In lab tests, these traps killed 90 to 100 percent of mosquitoes. The researchers hope their fungus could offer a cheap, scalable alternative to chemical insecticides."
"... Researchers reported last week in the journal Nature Microbiology that Metarhizium — a fungus already used to control pests — can be genetically engineered to produce so much of a sweet-smelling substance that it is virtually irresistible to mosquitoes. When they laced traps with those fungi, 90 percent to 100 percent of mosquitoes were killed in lab experiments. ..."
From the abstract:
"Chemical insecticides have been the primary method of mosquito control, but in recent years, mosquitoes have become resistant to these compounds.
Metarhizium fungi are emerging as promising alternatives and can kill mosquitoes with a small number of spores.
It was previously shown that caterpillars affected by fungal infections can attract mosquitoes. However, the mechanisms and potential applications of this attraction are lacking.
Here we show that Metarhizium-colonized insect cadavers release the volatile longifolene to attract and infect healthy insects, facilitating spore dispersal.
We identified the responsible odorant receptors in Drosophila melanogaster and Aedes albopictus.
The virulent mosquito pathogen Metarhizium pingshaense was engineered to express pine longifolene synthase to produce a large amount of longifolene on media.
The transgenic spores effectively attracted and killed male and female A. albopictus, Anopheles sinensis and Culex pipiens. Attraction of wild-caught mosquitoes was not impacted by human presence, but mosquito-attracting flowering plants competed with transgenic M. pingshaense for attractiveness, although mortality remained over 90%.
This study uncovered an active spore dispersal mechanism in broad-host-range entomopathogenic Metarhizium, enhancing mosquito control efficacy."
"... What also makes this new fungal technology particularly promising is how practical and affordable it is to produce. Other forms of Metarhizium are already commonly cultivated around the world on cheap materials like chicken droppings, rice husks and wheat scraps that are readily available after harvest. The affordability and simplicity of the fungus could be key to reducing mosquito disease-related deaths in many parts of the world, especially in poorer countries in the global south. ..."
This Genetically Engineered Fungus Could Help Fix Your Mosquito Problem (original NYT article) "This new strain of fungus mimics flowers to attract and kill mosquitoes, offering a new weapon in the fight against disease-carrying insects."
Scientists Develop Floral-Scented Fungus That Lures Mosquitoes to Their Doom (original news release)
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