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Recombinant entomopathogenic agents: a review of biotechnological approaches to pest insect control

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Abstract

Although the use of chemical pesticides has decreased in recent years, it is still a common method of pest control. However, chemical use leads to challenging problems. The harm caused by these chemicals and the length of time that they will remain in the environment is of great concern to the future and safety of humans. Therefore, developing new pest control agents that are safer and environmentally compatible, as well as assuring their widespread use is important. Entomopathogenic agents are microorganisms that play an important role in the biological control of pest insects and are eco-friendly alternatives to chemical control. They consist of viruses (non-cellular organisms), bacteria (prokaryotic organisms), fungi and protists (eukaryotic organisms), and nematodes (multicellular organisms). Genetic modification (recombinant technology) provides potential new methods for developing entomopathogens to manage pests. In this review, we focus on the important roles of recombinant entomopathogens in terms of pest insect control, placing them into perspective with other views to discuss, examine and evaluate the use of entomopathogenic agents in biological control.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank American Journal Experts for their support provided in English revision of the manuscript.

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Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Duzce University, Duzce, Turkey

      Salih Karabörklü

    2. Department of Crop and Animal Production, Tomarza Mustafa Akıncıoğlu Vocational College, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

      Ugur Azizoglu

    3. Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

      Zehra Busra Azizoglu

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    1. Salih Karabörklü
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    2. Ugur Azizoglu
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    3. Zehra Busra Azizoglu
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    Correspondence to Ugur Azizoglu.

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    No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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    Salih Karabörklü and Ugur Azizoglu have contributed equally to this work.

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    Karabörklü, S., Azizoglu, U. & Azizoglu, Z.B. Recombinant entomopathogenic agents: a review of biotechnological approaches to pest insect control. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 34, 14 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-017-2397-0

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