Evaluation of the growth and sporulation of different entomopathogenic fungi in different liquid and solid media at varied concentrations

Abstract

Entomopathogenic fungi like Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and Lecanicillium lecanii are used in biological control of agricultural insect pests. Their specific mode of action makes them an effective alternative to the chemical Insecticides. Virulent strains of Entomopathogenic fungi are effectively formulated and used as bio-insecticides world-wide. Amenable and economical multiplication of a virulent strain in a large scale is important for them to be useful in the field. Culture media plays a major role in the large-scale multiplication of virulent strains of Entomopathogens. Different substrates and media components are being used for this purpose. Yet, each strain differs in its nutritional requirements for the maximum growth and hence it is necessary to standardize the right components and their optimum concentrations in the culture media for a given strain of Entomopathogen. In the current study, three different nitrogen sources and two different carbon sources were tried to standardize the mass multiplication media for seven test isolates of Entomopathogenic fungi. A study was also conducted to determine the ideal grain media for the optimum conidial yields of the test isolates. Yeast extract was found to be the best Nitrogen source for the isolates. The isolates tested, differed in their nutritional requirements and showed variation in the best nitrogen and carbon sources necessary for their growth. Variation was also found in the optimum concentration of both the ingredients for the growth and sporulation of the isolates. In the solid-state fermentation study, rice was found to be the best grain for the growth of most of the fungi followed by barley. The significance of such a study in the development of an effective Myco-insecticide is vital and can be successfully employed in agriculture is discussed.