Physiological studies with the fungus Entomophaga aulicae during morphogenesis in three different media under fermentation conditions

The effects of three different media on amino acid uptake and production and glucose and oxygen utilization during protoplast growth and hyphal body production by the fungus Entomophaga aulicae under fermentation conditions were studied. The three media consisted of a basal medium plus either (i) 2.8% fetal calf serum, (ii) 0.8% tryptic soy broth plus 0.4% bovine serum albumin, or (iii) 0.8% tryptic soy broth plus 0.4% calcium caseinate. The protoplasts grew most rapidly (initial peaks on days 2 and 3) and hyphal bodies were detected first (day 3) in the media containing albumin and caseinate. The day 9 hyphal body yields were 3.1 × 107, 7.5 × 108, and 3.1 × 109/10 L in media containing the serum, albumin, and caseinate, respectively. Growth in the albumin and caseinate media also gave the first detectable glucose utilization (days 2 and 3, respectively) and this rapidly increased to 94.9 and 90.6% utilization, respectively, on day 4. Oxygen and glucose utilization were closely related. During protoplast growth prior to hyphal body production, the only common pattern detected was the initial utilization of glutamine in serum- and caseinate-containing media. During the initial period of hyphal body production, cysteic acid, threonine, serine, asparagine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, and arginine were first utilized and glycine, alanine, and ammonia were first produced in the albumin and caseinate media. At this time (days 3–5), glutamine, proline, cystine, and tryptophan were first utilized and valine and histidine were produced in the albumin medium, and methionine was first utilized and cystathionine produced in the caseinate medium. Four main patterns of overall amino acid utilization and production were identified. The delay in major protoplast growth in the basal medium plus fetal calf serum is felt to result from inhibition by free fatty acids in the serum. Protein utilization was not detected and its main function is considered to be enhancement of protoplast stability against fermentation shear forces.Key words: Entomophaga aulicae, physiology, fermentation growth, protoplasts, hyphal bodies.