Data from: The potential for fungal biopesticides to reduce malaria transmission under diverse environmental conditions

1.The effectiveness of conventional malaria vector control is being
threatened by the spread of insecticide resistance. One promising
alternative to chemicals is the use of naturally-occurring insect-killing
fungi. Numerous laboratory studies have shown that isolates of fungal
pathogens such as Beauveria bassiana can infect and kill adult mosquitoes,
including those resistant to chemical insecticides. 2. Unlike chemical
insecticides, fungi may take up to a week or more to kill mosquitoes
following exposure. This slow kill speed can still reduce malaria
transmission because the malaria parasite itself takes at least eight days
to complete its development within the mosquito. However, both fungal
virulence and parasite development rate are strongly
temperature-dependent, so it is possible that biopesticide efficacy could
vary across different transmission environments. 3. We examined the
virulence of a candidate fungal isolate against two key malaria vectors at
temperatures from 10–34 °C. Regardless of temperature, the fungus killed
more than 90% of exposed mosquitoes within the predicted duration of the
malarial extrinsic incubation period, a result that was robust to
realistic diurnal temperature variation. 4. We then incorporated
temperature sensitivities of a suite of mosquito, parasite and fungus
life-history traits that are important determinants of malaria
transmission into a stage-structured malaria transmission model. The model
predicted that, at achievable daily fungal infection rates, fungal
biopesticides have the potential to deliver substantial reductions in the
density of malaria-infectious mosquitoes across all temperatures
representative of malaria transmission environments. 5. Synthesis and
applications. Our study combines empirical data and theoretical modelling
to prospectively evaluate the potential of fungal biopesticides to control
adult malaria vectors. Our results suggest that Beauveria bassiana could
be a potent tool for malaria control and support further development of
fungal biopesticides to manage infectious disease vectors.