The functional of transcription factor MaHMG and its molecular mechanism affecting the conidiation of Metarhizium acridum

Entomopathogenic fungi are rich in resources, with the advantages of low resistance development in pests and environmental friendliness, holding great potential for application in pest management. The yield of conidia, stress tolerance, and virulence are biological control traits that affect the efficacy and cost of applying entomopathogenic fungi in field pest control, and these are also important factors restricting the widespread use of mycopesticides. Microcycle conidiation shows great potential in improving the yield and quality of conidia of entomopathogenic fungi. Therefore, in-depth study of entomopathogenic fungi biocontrol function and the molecular mechanism of regulating conidiation, mining new microcycle conidiation -related genes to provide a theoretical basis for the breeding of high condial yield strains and improving their biological control effect.In this study, Metarhizium acridum CQMa102, a member of Metarhizium SPP., was selected as the research object, and the MAC_07229 gene in the genome was analyzed by bioinformatics. This gene was identified as an HMG-BOX transcription factor, which was named MaHMG. By constructing deletion and complementation strains and comparing with wild type, the biocontrol function of MaHMG was determined.