Enhancing Chlamydospore Production in Duddingtonia flagrans on solid 2 substrate: The Impact of Mannitol and Varied Cultivation Conditions

JUNCO, MILAGROS; IGLESIAS, LUCÍA EMILIA; ZEGBI, SARA; SAGÜES, MARÍA FEDERICA; GUERRERO, INES; BERNAT, GISELE ANAHÍ; FUENTES, MARIANA; RIVA, ELIANA; FERNÁNDEZ, ALICIA SILVINA; SAUMELL, CARLOS

EXPERIMENTAL PARASITOLOGY

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2024

0014-4894

Duddingtonia flagrans is a nematophagous fungus which has shown promising results as anon-chemical parasitic control tool. The fungus disrupts the parasite´s life cycle by trappinglarvae in the environment through the networks generated from chlamydospores, thuspreventing the reinfection of animals. One barrier to the development of a commercialproduct using this tool is the need to increase chlamydospore production in the laboratoryfor its administration to livestock. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the addition ofmannitol to an enriched culture medium and the effect of adverse cultivation conditions onchlamydospore production. D. flagrans was cultivated on Petri dishes with corn agar for 4weeks at 27°C and 70% relative humidity (RH). Four groups were then formed, all withSabouraud agar as a base, to which different growth inducers were added: GSA (glucoseSabouraud agar), GSA-MI (glucose Sabouraud agar + meso inositol), GSA-E (enrichedglucose Sabouraud agar), and AE-M (enriched agar + mannitol). After 4 weeks,chlamydospores were recovered by washing the surface of each plate with distilled waterand then quantified. The medium that yielded the highest amount of chlamydospores wassubjected to different cultivation conditions: NC (normal conditions): 70% RH and 27°C,AC (adverse conditions) 1: 20% RH and 40°C, CA2: 60% RH and 27°C, and CA3: 55%RH and 24°C. It was determined that mannitol increases chlamydospore production (65x10 6chlamydospores/plate), and when reducing humidity by 10% under cultivation conditions itresulted in an approximately 10% increase in chlamydospore production compared to thecontrol group. These results suggest that the addition of polyols, as well as its cultivationunder certain environmental conditions, can improve chlamydospore production on alaboratory scale.