Functional Analysis of MaAL gene in Metarhizium acridum

Entomopathogenic fungi, as an important insecticidal microorganism, have the advantages of being environmentally friendly, harmless to humans and animals, and sustainable control, but at the same time, they have the disadvantages of slow insecticidal speed, high production cost, unstable control effect, and susceptibility to environmental factors. Important limiting factors for its actual use in the field. Therefore, it has very important theoretical significance and practical application value for the study of genes related to the biocontrol traits of insect pathogenic fungi. Studies have found that Asp f2 is a class II allergen of Aspergillus fumigatus and is related to a variety of allergic diseases. Studies in filamentous fungi have found that their homologous proteins play an important role in the process of growth, development, and pathogenicity. At present, the function of its homologous protein has not been reported in insect pathogenic fungi. Therefore, this article aims to clarify the function of Asp f2 homologous protein MaAL (Metarhizium acdrium Asp f2-like) in the model insect pathogenic fungus M.acridum. After its bioinformatics analysis, the MaAL knockout strain and complement strains were constructed to study the function of MaAL in Metarhizium anisopliae.