A fungal pathogen deploys a small silencing RNA that attenuates mosquito immunity and facilitates infection

Fungi that infect insects can potentially be exploited for disease vector control. Here the authors show that the fungus Beauveria bassiana exports a microRNA-like RNA into mosquito cells that modulates host immunity by suppressing expression of Toll receptor ligand Spätzle 4.

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chunlai Cui, Yan Wang, Jingnan Liu, Jing Zhao, Peilu Sun, Sibao Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2019-09-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12323-1