Evaluation of substrate formulations for the reproductive structures production of entomopathogenic fungi of the family Cordycipitaceae (Hypocreales, Ascomycota)

Holgado-Rojas M.E.; Condori-Osorio A.; Meza-Calvo J.G.; Ascue F.; Lazarte-Lovatón R.; Aranzabal-Carrasco R.L.; Acurio-Saavedra J.; Cjuno-Quispe M. · Lilloa (2026) · DOI: 10.30550/j.lil/2319

Resumen

The production of reproductive structures of entomopathogenic fungi was evaluated using strains isolated from the province of La Convención, Cusco, Peru: Beauveria bassiana (KIT-21), Cordyceps spp. (ALF-01), and two strains of Isaria spp. (IV-09 and PR-02). Four solid substrate formulations based on brown rice were incubated under controlled conditions, with the developmental phase of the reproductive structures occurring under blue LED light at 20 °C and 88% relative humidity. Synnemata and stromata length and fresh biomass were measured as response variables at 30 and 120 days, respectively. Because the data showed deviations from normality and heteroscedasticity, inferential analysis was conducted using a two-way ANOVA with Welch’s correction, complemented by non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis), which revealed significant effects of the substrate and substrate-strain interactions. Comparatively, the reproductive structures of Isaria showed the highest values. In particular, the greatest mean synnemata length was recorded in formulation F3, with PR-02 (26 mm) standing out, followed by F4 (25 mm), while IV-09 showed its best performance in F2 (25.7 mm). Fresh biomass followed a similar trend, with higher values observed for Isaria, especially PR-02 in F3 (1.14 g). Overall, the results indicate that brown rice substrate supplemented according to formulation F3 constitutes a viable and scalable substrate for the production of reproductive structures.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco