Kinetics of infective juvenile production of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in submerged monoxenic culture

The effects of culture medium formulations on the kinetics of infective juvenile (IJ) production of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in submerged monoxenic culture, were studied at the cylindrical-bottle scale using six culture media containing agave juice from Agave spp. among other ingredients. The IJ production kinetics was well modelled through a re-parameterised 3-parameter Gompertz model with kinetic parameters: IJ-lag phase lambda(IJ) (day), maximum IJ-stage production rate m(max) (day(-1)), and IJ-multiplication factor (C-IJ/C-IJ,C-0)(max)(-). The variation of lambda(IJ) was not very important within fermentations (10.3-16.2 days); nonetheless, important effects were observed on m(max) (32.8-241.2 days(-1)) and (C-IJ/C-IJ,C-0)(max) (66(-) to 611.4(-)). Particularly, maximum values of m(max) and (C-IJ/C-IJ,C-0)(max) were obtained in medium A4 (0.276 l l(-1) agave juice, 17 g l(-1)yeast extract, 12 g l(-1) dried egg yolk, 0.025 l l(-1) corn oil). Also, the maximum IJ concentration (249,444 per ml) was achieved in A4-fermentations.