Total lipids and fatty acids of strains of Metarhizium anisopliae

Two growth stages, conidia (C) and mycelium (M), and two media, minimal medium (MM) and complete medium (MC), were compared in 10 strains of M. anisopliae, and two strains of M. anisopliae var. majus were similar in percentages of total lipids. Tukey test for average of lipid content in conidia (C) and mycelia (M) cultured on minimal (MM) and complete (MC) media showed significant differences between means at the 5% level for mycelia and conidia, indicating variability in total lipid production and storage during growth. Strains 5 and 7, both variety majus, did not present sizable differences from variety anisopliae. For fatty acids, C18:1 and C18:2, oleic and linoleic, respectively, the differences were all highly significant (p= 1%) with the highest means being obtained for conidia for fatty acid C18:1 and for myclelia for fatty acid C18:2.