Functional interplay of certain pathogenicity determinant factors governing virulence of the entomopatogenic fungal species Beauveria

Abstract

Different pathogenicity parameters like hydrophobin protein content, spore protein content, rate of germination, in vitro extra cellular enzymes production and bioassays against 2nd instar larval stage of two polyphagous pests viz., Spodoptera litura and Helicoverpa armigera were performed for 30 isolates of Beauveria. There was significant positive correlation and apparent interplay of all the factors studied. However, extracellular proteases played a major role in determining virulence of the fungal isolates.