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Production of conidia by entomopathogenic fungi: from inoculants to final quality tests

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Abstract

Demand for biopesticides is growing due to the increase of areas under integrated pest management worldwide. Conidia from entomopathogenic fungi play a major role as infective units in the current market of biopesticides. Success in a massive production of fungal conidia include the use of proper long-term conservation microbial methods, aimed at preserving the phenotypic traits of the strains. The development of suitable inoculants should also be considered since that favours a rapid germination and invasiveness of the substrate in solid state cultures (SSC). After the selection of a suitable fungal strain, proven optimization approaches for SSC mainly include the combination of substrates, moisture, texturizers, aeration and moderate stress to induce conidiation. Nonetheless, during storage and upon application in open fields, conidia either as free propagules or imbibed in formulations are subjected to stress due to abiotic factors, then quality should be preserved to resist such harsh conditions. All of these topics are analysed in this report.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT) for the Project CB-2015-254819, and also the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM).

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  1. Departamento de Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa, Iztapalapa, 09340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Facundo Muñiz-Paredes, Francisco Miranda-Hernández & Octavio Loera

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  1. Facundo Muñiz-Paredes
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Muñiz-Paredes, F., Miranda-Hernández, F. & Loera, O. Production of conidia by entomopathogenic fungi: from inoculants to final quality tests. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 33, 57 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-017-2229-2

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