Interaction and control of mammalian ectoparasites using Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF)

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Ticks are major pests of cattle, horses, and other domestic and wild animals and attack humans too, worldwide including developing and developed countries. They serve as vectors of several diseases of human and veterinary importance, including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Lyme borreliosis, theileriosis, tick-borne encephalitis and many others. Tick control is, at present, largely based on the use of chemical acaricides. Alternative tools for tick management, such as biological control, are highly desirable because of increasing problems with tick resistance to common synthetic pesticides and because of eco-toxicological concerns (e.g. homes, animal products) and negative effects on the host or on non-target organism respectively. As for today commercial biocontrol agents, which consist of microbials, are scarce for the control of any ectoparasites. In the suggested study we propose to study some fundamental aspects of ectoparasites-pathogen interactions and to develop application packages while keeping the focus on synergism of the aspirated tri-lateral cooperation. The Entomopathogenic Fungi (EF) are considered as most interesting and promising biocontrol agents. The project aims to I) select highly virulent EF strains effective under the climatic conditions of the Middle East, II) to study their efficiency using direct and indirect contamination strategies, III) to follow natural distribution within infected tick populations and study side effects on non-target organism IV) to enhance EF efficiency by combination with selective and low-toxic acaricides.