Abstract
Beauveria bassiana is a worldwide distributed entomopathogenic fungus, which is used nowadays as an alternative to chemical pesticides in the control of several agriculture pests. Therefore, a preservation method must be established in order to maintain fungal culture and stocks, while fungal characteristics, like morphological features, spore production and viability, are kept well preserved. Although a large number of different storage methods are available and described, each fungus presents different characteristics, and therefore a new challenge for its preservation. In this work, we evaluate the effect of 1-year preservation by lyophilization, glycerol-freeze at −20°C and sub-culturing on growth, production and viability of spores and macro- and micro-morphology of three isolates of B. bassiana. Overall, results indicate that sub-culturing is the best method for conservation of this fungal species. However, if long-term storage is required, glycerol-freeze proved to be the most capable method of preservation.
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Acknowledgments
Authors are grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for financial support (Project PTCD/AGR-AAM/102600/2008), and Ivo Oliveira for the PhD grant (SFRH/BD/44265/2008).
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Oliveira, I., Pereira, J.A., Bento, A. et al. Viability of Beauveria bassiana isolates after storage under several preservation methods. Ann Microbiol 61, 339–344 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-010-0147-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-010-0147-8