EVALUATION OF MEXICAN NATIVE ISOLATES OF Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill. (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) FROM CITRUS-GROWING AREAS OF MASS PRODUCTION IN SUBMERGED AND BIPHASIC CULTURE

Comprehension of the basic aspects of entomopathogenic fungi development and detailed knowledge of nutritious requirements for their growth and sporulation are fundamental for mass production and commercialization. The objective of this study was to evaluate the production of blastospores in submerged culture medium and of conidia in biphasic culture of four native isolates and a B. bassiana strain showing potential for the control of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae), which belong to the collection of the FCB-UANL Institute of Biotechnology, Mexico. The experimental design was completely randomized and means were compared using Tukey test (p <= 0.05). In the liquid culture medium formulated with glucose and casamino acids, at 72 h, blastospore production had the highest (p <= 0.05) concentration for GHA strain (2.20x10(-8) mL(-1)) and biomass of 26 gL(-1), while the HIB-4 isolate showed the lowest blastospore production (p <= 0.05) (5.25x10(7) m L-1) and biomass of 7 g L-1. Isolate HIB-2 had 56 % germination in diatomaceous earth for support, being the highest value among the studied fungi. In solid hase (rice grain), at 14 d of incubation, HIB-4 isolate presented a production of 1.82x10(9) conidia g(-1), and GHA strain producted was 2.35x10(8) conidia g(-1). Viability was higher than 90 % for all fungi during 4 weeks of storing at 4 degrees C. Thus, it is feasible produce blastospores and conidia of native isolates of B. bassiana with the potential of controlling pests which affect the citrus-growing regions of Mexico.