Efecto de factores abióticos sobre la viabilidad e infectividad de Heterorhabditis amazonensis Andaló et al. cepa HC1

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of selected abiotic factors on the viability and pathogenicity of H. amazonensis strain HC1, as initial studies to obtain a commercial formulation. Three trials were developed, where infective juveniles (IJ) were maintained under the effect of each factor for several weeks. In the first test, it was evaluated the effect of different types of water (tap water, boiled, distilled and deionized) on JI at the concentrations of 5x10 4 and 10 5 IJ per plate (15 cm diameter). The data related to the viability of IJ were processed through the two-factor analysis of variance and the Duncan´s multiple range test (95 % significance level). Using the water type selected in the first test, three solutions at pH 5, 7, and 9 were prepared and evaluated at the temperatures of 22±1°C, 25±2°C, and 27°C. The values were processed by Wald's test by correction, and CompaProWin 2.0 software was used. The viability and infectivity of IJ in the temperature and pH tests were determined by using the one-in-one test with larvae of Galleria mellonella L. The highest survival values of IJ were obtained with distilled and boiled water, pH 5 and 7, and at temperatures of 22±1° C.