"Soy protein polymers as controlled release system of fungi nematophagous to the control nematode parasites in ruminants"

SAGÜÉS MARÍA F.

Mar del Plata. Provincia de Buenos Aires

Encuentro; VI Encuentro de Biólogos en Red, 2011.; 2011

Asociación de Jóvenes Investigadores en Formación (AJIF)

Due to the rapid increase in case of anthelmintic resistance as well as the increasing demand of safe food for human consumption obtained usinf environmentally-friendly technologies, it is imperative to find alternatives for the control of gastrointestinal parasitosis of ruminants. Among these, Biological Control (BC) is based on the natural organisms as Duddingtonia flagrans, nematophagous fungi which has the ability to go through the gastrointestinal tract of livestock and maintaining intact of germination and predatory activity in the environment and reduce the number of infective larvae in fecal pats. Current research focuses on the obtention of formulations used as vehicles for the spores of nematophagous fungi. Soy protein polymers (SPP) have a great potential as a controlled release system (CRS) for active compounds, such as nutrients, medicine and could be used therapeutically. SPP forms a stable polymers, very resistant to degradation, because its ability to polymerize into different polymeric structures such as sheets or plastics. The purpose of this trial was evaluated the predatory activity of D. flagrans included in a SPP formulation such as CRS; determine the fungi release from polymers, the suitable physic structure for bucoesophagic probe administration in sheep, and to observe the time of permanency of the SPP in the rumen of a cannulated sheep. The SPP was extracted weekly for the observation of the physical structure and faeces were collected to observe the predatory activity of the fungus in Petri dishes with water agar 2% and Panagrellus spp as baits. The result showed that polymer formulation not affected the predatory activity of D. flagrans and the fungi release was successful. The SPP remained in the rumen degrading slowly for 4 weeks and it liberated constant D. flagrans for faeces. Therefore the use of soy protein polymer as vehicle of fungi nematophagous for ruminant´s nematode control could be the base for a potential biodegradable controlled release system.