Carbon requirements of some nematophagous, entomopathogenic and mycoparasitic hyphomycetes as fungal biocontrol agents.

Thirty-three carbon sources were evaluated for their effects on spore germination, hyphal growth and sporulation of 11 fungal biocontrol agents, i.e. the nematophagous fungi Paecilomyces lilacinus, Pochonia chlamydosporia, Hirsutella rhossiliensis, H. minnesotensis and Arkansas Fungus 18, the entomopathogenic fungi Lecanicillium lecanii, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, and the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma viride. Variations in carbon requirements were found among the fungal species or strains tested. All strains studied except for T. viride grew on most carbon sources, although B. bassiana had more fastidious requirements for spore germination. Monosaccharides and disaccharides were suitable for fungal growth. For most isolates, D-glucose, D-mannose, sucrose and trehalose were superior to pectin and soluble starch among the polysaccharides and lactic acid among the organic acids. Both ethanol and methanol could accelerate growth of most isolates but not biomass. D-mannose, D-fructose and D-xylose were excellent carbon sources for sporulation, while D-glucose, sucrose, cellobiose, trehalose, chitin, dextrin, gelatin and lactic acid were better for some isolates. Neither sorbic acid nor linoleic acid could be utilized as a single carbon source. These findings provided a better understanding of the nutritional requirements of different fungal biocontrol agents that can benefit the mass production process.