Induction of Proteases from Beauveria bassiana by Aedes aegypti larvae and cuticle cicadas

Abstract

The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana penetrates the cuticle of insects by action of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes such as proteases, lipases and chitinases. Proteases can be induced in cultivation submerged in presence of protein nature. Thus, the objective of this work is to evaluate the production of proteases of B. bassiana CG432 in cultivation submerged in minimal medium Vogel supplemented with cuticle cicadas, Aedes aegypti, casein, chitin, gelatin, urea and amino acids: methionine, proline, alanine and glycine as substrates inductors. The inoculum contained 10⁶ spores and cultivation was conducted to 28°C, 200 rpm for 5 days. Enzymatic extracts obtained by centrifugation were analyzed for protein content, production biomass and protease activity. The substrates examined in cultivation, the cuticle of cicadas, the larvae of A. aegypti and casein showed higher protease activity and, among the amino acids, methionine was presented the best result. Among these inducers to cuticle and the larvae were that induced higher specific activity enzyme and casein contributed to the higher biomass fungal growth.