Mass Production of Aphicidal Beauveria bassiana SFB-205 Supernatant with the Parameter of Chitinase

Beauveria bassiana SFB-205 supernatant can effectively control cotton aphid populations, which is closely associated with its chitinase activity. The present work extends to optimizing a culture medium to produce more efficacious supernatant in flask conditions, followed by scale-up in 7 L, 300 L and 1.2 KL fermentors with the parameter of chitinase. In flask conditions, a combination of soluble starch and yeast extract produced the greatest amount of chitinase (5.1 units/ml) and its supernatant had the highest aphicidal activity. An optimal quantitative combination of the two substrates, estimated by a response surface method, enabled the supernatant to have 15.7 units/ml of chitinase activity and 3.7 ml/l of median lethal concentration ($LC_{50}$) of toxicity against cotton aphid adults in laboratory conditions. In the scale-up conditions, overall supernatant had 25-28 units/ml of chitinase activity. Decrease in pH and limitation of dissolved oxygen (DO) during cultures were significantly related to the yield of chitinase. These results suggest that the substrate-dependent chitinase production can be background information for optimizing a culture medium, and pH and DO are critical factors in maximizing the production in scale-up conditions.