In-vitro liquid culture of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema colombiense, in orbitally shaken flasks

ABSTRACT

Steinernema colombiense, an entomopathogenic nematode species (EPN) was grown in two types of orbitally shaken flasks at 130 rpm and 28°C, containing 10 or 20 mL, respectively of a complex culture medium with an initial EPN-concentration of 1,000 Infective Juveniles (IJ)/mL. At the 10th day, the EPN-concentration was 58,771 individuals/mL with 87% of them in the IJ stage. No significant differences were found between the EPN growth kinetics in both types of flasks. The nematode-population growth was modelled by a re-parameterized Gompertz equation of three-parameters with best-fit values of 3.8 days for the lag time, 33.8 day^-1 for the maximum growth rate, and 57.3 (dimensionless) for the maximum asymptotic growth.

KEYWORDS:

• Bioinsecticides
• entomopathogenic nematodes
• Steinernema colombiense
• nematode mass production
• liquid culture
• bioreactors

Acknowledgments

SJPC acknowledged CONACyT Doctor Scholarship. Authors thanked J. Jimenez, Perkins Ltda, and A. Bustillo, Cenipalma, for fruitful collaboration. Also, the valuable assistance of R.O. Pacheco-Rodríguez and C. Cruz-Muthe is acknowledged. This work was supported by the CONACyT-México under Grants CB 2014, No. 238359; INFRA 2014, No. 230138, and INFRA 2016, No. 269805.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the CONACyT-México under Grants CB 2014, No. 238359; INFRA 2014, No. 230138, and INFRA 2016, No. 269805.