Conidia production by Isaria fumosorosea on solid substrates and its pathogenicity towards Bemisia tabaci

Large amounts of conidia must be recovered to use Isaria fumosorosea as a biological control agent. Aerial conidia are mass-produced in solid substrate culture. Conidia obtained from growth on different substrates must be similar in quantity and quality (viability, purity and virulence). In the present work, several solid substrates were evaluated: rice, sorghum, sugarcane, corncob, plantain and wheat (derived from the production of Trichogramma sp.) to find alternatives that are economical and available in different regions. The highest conidia production was obtained on rice, plantain and corncob substrates, which yielded 5.33 × 109 conidia/g, 5.24 × 109 conidia/g and 4.8 × 109 conidia/g substrate, respectively. At concentrations of 1 × 107 conidia/mL, the mortality rates obtained with conidia developed on rice, plantain and corncob substrates were 98%, 97% and 88%, respectively. The lethal concentration 50 (LC50) values of conidia obtained from rice and plantain were 7.2 × 104 conidia/mL and 5.1 × 104 ...