Abstract
Abstract Beneficial nematodes are used as biological control agents. Low-cost mass production of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) is an important prerequisite toward their successful commercialization. EPNs can be grown via in vivo methods or in sold or liquid fermentation. For solid and liquid approaches, media optimization is paramount to maximizing EPN yield and quality. In solid media, the authors investigated the effects of incorporating pulverized insect powder from larvae of three insects (Galleria mellonella, Tenebrio molitor, and Lucillia sericata) at three dose levels (1, 3, and 5%). The impact of insect powder was assessed on infective juvenile (IJ) yield in solid media. Additionally, IJs produced in solid culture were subsequently assessed for virulence, and progeny production in a target insect, Spodoptera litura. The dose level of larval powder had a significant effect on IJ yield in both trials, whereas insect type had significant effect on IJ yield in trial 1 but not in trial 2. The maximum solid culture yield was observed in T. molitor powder at the highest dose in both trials. Moreover, the time-to-death in S. litura was substantially shortened in trial 1 and in trial 2 when IJs from the T. molitor powder treatment were applied. There was no significant effect of combining two insect powders relative to addition of powder from a single insect species. These findings indicate that addition of insect powder to solid media leads to high mass production yields, and the fitness of the IJs produced (e.g., in virulence and reproductive capacity) can be enhanced as well.
Highlights
Agricultural crops have been prone to attack from various pest insects which lead to loss of yield (Shapiro-Ilan et al, 2016; Ángel et al, 2018)
One strategy is to develop entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) as control agents for arthropod pests; these organisms are deemed to be safe to humans and the environment to the extent that they are exempt from pesticide registration procedures in many countries (Shapiro-Ilan and Gaugler, 2002)
The results of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed solid production medium supplemented with insect powder had a significant impact on infective juvenile (IJ) production relative to the control treatment without insect powder
Summary
Agricultural crops have been prone to attack from various pest insects which lead to loss of yield (Shapiro-Ilan et al, 2016; Ángel et al, 2018). EPNs can be mass produced using in vivo methods by inoculating living insects, and in vitro methods, i.e., solid or liquid fermentation (Ehlers, 2001; Shapiro-Ilan et al, 2014). In vitro liquid culture is considered the most cost efficient process for producing EPN (Shapiro-Ilan and Gaugler, 2002; Cho et al, 2011). It was demonstrated that the lipid supplement from natural hosts added to artificial media could give a relatively similar composition to in vivo-produced nematodes and could provide a better growth rate and a higher yield than media with other lipid sources (Abu Hatab and Gaugler, 1999). Axenic liquid static culture of S. carpocapsae supplemented with nematode-infected insect cadaver largely improved nematode growth and propagation (Fuchi et al, 2016)
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