Publications by authors named "Weilu Zheng"
Article Synopsis
- Insects and their microbial pathogens are in a constant battle, and a new fungal variety (Bbm) is discovered to infect insects through their foregut, adding to the ways it can enter the host.
- The study shows that the dual infection routes lead to faster insect deaths due to the fungus’s ability to adapt to the alkaline environment of the foregut, which is regulated by specific genes and transcription factors.
- By understanding the mechanisms behind this infection process, researchers aim to create new fungal insecticides that could effectively target harmful insect pests.
Novel octopod shaped AgPO microcrystals were successfully fabricated by a simple ion exchange method under the conditions of a hot water bath using [Ag(NH)] solution and NaHPO solution as the precursors. Meanwhile, sphere and cube shaped AgPO microcrystals were also prepared followed by changing reaction materials as well as temperature. The surface morphology, microstructure and photocatalytic performance were investigated on the three different shaped crystals respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEntomopathogenic fungi infect insects by penetrating through the cuticle into the host body. To breach the host cuticle, some fungal pathogens produce specialized infection cells called appressoria, which develop enormous turgor pressure to allow cuticle penetration. However, regulatory mechanisms underlying appressorium turgor generation are poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFilamentous fungal pathogens have evolved diverse strategies to infect a variety of hosts including plants and insects. The dynamic infection process requires rapid and fine-tuning regulation of fungal gene expression programs in response to the changing host environment and defenses. Therefore, transcriptional reprogramming of fungal pathogens is critical for fungal development and pathogenicity.
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