Functional analysis of Metallophosphoesterase MaMpped2 in Metarhizium acridum

Filamentous fungus Metarhizium acridum is used for the control of insect pests. As an environmental friendly insectcide with the advantage of safety and strong pathogenicity, M. acridum has a broad application prospect. However, the high environmental sensitivity, slow insecticidal speed and unstable effectivenesss have restricted its large-scale application in the field. Therefore, an in-depth study of the mechanisms that regulate the growth, development, pathogenicity and stress resistance of M. acridum will provide a theoretical basis to improve its effect of biological control. This study focused on M. acridum CQMa 102, and identified the gene MAC_09064 as MaMpped2 (XP_007815404.1) which encodes a metaphosphatase by analyzing its sequence through bioinformatics. Next, through comparing and analyzing the biological characteristics (e.g. growth, development, stress resistance and virulence) among the wild-type strain, gene-knockout strain and complementary strain, this study clarified the biological function and possible mechanisms that regulate the function of MaMpped2.