Biological control of insects is the current goal of modern researches to avoid using the harmful chemicals. Some fungi are capable of infecting and killing insects and, hence, are commonly known as entomopathogenic fungi (EPF). On the other hand, some insects can kill harmful fungal strains using their products such as peptides. Hence, the aim of this review article is to highlight the use of EPF as biocontrol tools against each other. EPF are generally characterized by having a wide range of hosts which made them the perfect candidate for biological control missions. They are existing in abundance in the environment and involved in plenty of environmental interactions. They have prestigious enzymatic machinery and toxins that contribute as killing tools. Moreover, after penetrating the insect, the expanded vegetative growth of hyphal bodies enabling the invasion of the fungi throughout the entire tissues of host insect cause physic, histolytic, and pathologic changes ultimately leading to the death of the host insect. On the other hand, some insects can kill harmful fungal strains using their secreted products such as peptides. In this review, the use of fungi and insects as biological control agents against each other was described. Furthermore, the history of using EPF for this purpose, their killing mechanism, host range, and the factors affecting EPF virulence were highlighted. Moreover, the role of insect’s immunology and some insect’s products as antifungal agents was presented focusing on peptides with biological activities against fungi. Finally, future prospects concerning the use of insects and fungi in biological control process were discussed.

中文翻译：

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对抗昆虫的真菌，反之作为生物防治模型

昆虫的生物防治是现代研究避免使用有害化学物质的当前目标。一些真菌能够感染和杀死昆虫，因此通常被称为昆虫病原真菌（EPF）。另一方面，某些昆虫可以利用其产品（如肽）杀死有害的真菌菌株。因此，这篇综述文章的目的是强调将EPF用作彼此对抗的生物防治工具。EPF通常具有许多宿主，这使它们成为生物控制任务的理想候选者。它们大量存在于环境中，并参与大量的环境相互作用。它们具有著名的酶促机制和毒素，可作为杀伤工具。而且，在穿透昆虫之后，菌丝体的营养生长扩大，使真菌侵入宿主昆虫的整个组织，导致物理，组织溶解和病理变化，最终导致宿主昆虫死亡。另一方面，某些昆虫可以利用其分泌产物（如肽）杀死有害的真菌菌株。在这篇综述中，描述了使用真菌和昆虫作为彼此对抗的生物防治剂。此外，重点介绍了使用EPF达到此目的的历史，它们的杀灭机制，寄主范围以及影响EPF毒力的因素。此外，提出了昆虫免疫学和一些昆虫产品作为抗真菌剂的作用，重点是对真菌具有生物活性的肽。最后，