Biological Characteristics of Paecilomyces cicadae LB Strain

The effect of carbon source,nitrogen source,temperature,moisture,pH and light on the fungal growth,conidia production and conidia germination of Paecilomyces cicadae LB were studied.For the fun-gal growth and conidia production,the optimum carbon sources were soluble starch and glucose,while the optimum nitrogen source was peptone.For the fungal growth and spore germination of P.cicadae,the opti-mum temperature was 25°C~27°C,for the conidia production,the optimum temperature was 25°C.Conidia geminated at RH 90%~100%,but did not below 90%.When RH reaches to 100% or the conidia were in wa-ter,the germination rate was the highest.The range of pH for the fungal growth,conidia production and co-nidial germination was 4~10,while the optimum pH for the fungal growth was 6 and 6~7 for the conidia production and conidial germination.The light treatment significantly influenced fungal conidia production.The lethal temperature for the fungal conidia was 55°C remaining 10 minutes.The present results suggest the isolate LB can adapt to nutrition and environment more widely,and has greater potential as biological control factor against of pest.