Control of Subterranean Termite Coptotermes Curvignathus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) by Entomopathogen Metarhizium Anisopliae Var. Anisopliae Cultured in Liquid State Fermentation

Solidstate fermentation has been used for mass production of Metarhiziumanisopliaemany years ago. However, solid state fermentation was timeconsuming, costly and unable to produce in large amount. We examined thesuitability of liquid state fermentation to mass produce M. anisopliae and theeffect of culture medium on fungal pathogenicity. Three different liquid mediumselected for this study was Jenkins medium, Leland medium and MPOB medium. Thefungus was cultured for 5 days to examine the growth rate. Yield of submergedconidia in different medium was assessed on day 3. Fungal virulence was bioassayedon termite Coptotermes curvignathus. Theresults indicated that Jenkins medium yielded significantly lower growth rateand dry weight (1.472 mg mL-1), but the fungus exhibitedhighest virulence (100% mortality on day 4) among the 3 medium studied. MPOBmedium had the highest growth rate and DW yield (1.961 mg mL-1) but achieved 100% mortalityonly on day 6. The LC50 result showed Jenkins medium yielded themost virulent fungus culture compared to Leland medium and MPOB medium.

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