Volatile organic compounds released by the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana.

R. CRESPO; N. PEDRINI; MP. JUÁREZ

Cataratas del Iguazú, Misiones

Congreso; XL Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones Bioquímicas y Biología Molecular.; 2004

Hydrocarbon-growth adaptation of entomopathogenic fungi has been recently proposed as a method to reduce the time to kill its insect host. The effect of hydrocarbon utilization as the sole carbon source on the composition of fungal volatiles was investigated. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) released by the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana were analyzed by solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to capillary gas chromatography (CGC) - mass spectrometry (MS). Fungi was grown on an incubation medium supplemented with an exogenous carbon source, either glucose or n-octacosane, an insect-like hydrocarbon. A 65-µm polidimethylsiloxane/divynilbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber was used to collect fungal volatiles. Decane accounted for almost 95% of the VOC after alkane-growth adaptation, whereas isopropyl methyl naphtalene was the major component detected in glucose-grown cultures. Present results suggest that fungal VOC measurement is a simple and fast method to evaluate fungal adaptation to different carbon