Status and scope of entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana in sustainable pest management: A review

Biopesticides are biological alternatives to synthetic pesticides and environmentally sustainable pest management tools. The demand for biopesticides in agriculture is rising due to increased awareness among farmers about the safety of biopesticides to human health and environment. As a result, the global consumption of biopesticides has steadily increased. The anamorphic hyphomycete, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Ascomycota: Hypocreales), is a well-recognized cosmopolitan microbial agent known to infect broader insect groups. This paper provides an overview of current knowledge on isolation, culturing, identification, mode of action, the genes contributing to virulence and formulation of B. bassiana. The fungus can develop three distinct infective units viz., aerial conidia, blastospores, and submerged conidia. Beauveria bassiana grows as a white mold in culture media and generates many dry, powdery conidia in unique white spore balls on most standard culture media. The B. bassiana can be isolated through the galleria bait technique and use of specific media. The molecular characterization of B. bassiana can be confirmed using the gene sequences of the nuclear intergenic region (bloc), beta-tubulin (bt), and ITS region. Understanding the potential factors of genetic variation on the virulence of B. bassiana and its insect-fungus interactions will improve usage of this fungus as a cost-effective and sustainable mycoinsecticide.