<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE article  PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v3.0 20080202//EN" "http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/3.0/journalpublishing3.dtd"><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" dtd-version="3.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="research article"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">JACEN</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="epub">2325-7458</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Scientific Research Publishing</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4236/jacen.2014.31003</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">JACEN-43367</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Articles</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="Discipline-v2"><subject>Chemistry&amp;Materials Science</subject><subject> Earth&amp;Environmental Sciences</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>
 
 
  Pyroclastic material from the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle Volcanic Complex, Chile, as carrier of Beauveria bassiana conidia: Potential utilization in mycoinsecticide formulations
 
</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>antiago</surname><given-names>Schalamuk</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref><xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"><sup>*</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sebastián</surname><given-names>Pelizza</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ana</surname><given-names>Clara Scorsetti</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>María</surname><given-names>José González</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3"><sup>3</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Irma</surname><given-names>Lía Botto</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref></contrib></contrib-group><aff id="aff3"><addr-line>INREMI (CICPBA-UNLP), La Plata, Argentina</addr-line></aff><aff id="aff2"><addr-line>Instituto Spegazzini (UNLP), La Plata, Argentina</addr-line></aff><aff id="aff1"><addr-line>CEQUINOR (CCT-La Plata-CONICET-UNLP), La Plata, Argentina</addr-line></aff><author-notes><corresp id="cor1">* E-mail:<email>sschala@yahoo.com.ar(AS)</email>;</corresp></author-notes><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>28</day><month>02</month><year>2014</year></pub-date><volume>03</volume><issue>01</issue><fpage>14</fpage><lpage>21</lpage><history><date date-type="received"><day>6</day>	<month>October</month>	<year>2012</year></date><date date-type="rev-recd"><day>18</day>	<month>November</month>	<year>2012</year>	</date><date date-type="accepted"><day>6</day>	<month>December</month>	<year>2012</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement>&#169; Copyright  2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. </copyright-statement><copyright-year>2014</copyright-year><license><license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</license-p></license></permissions><abstract><p>
 
 
  The last volcanic eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle Volcanic Complex in the Andes cordillera of western South America, occurring on 4 June 2011, ejected pyroclastic materials that were accumulated in a wide region of the northern Patagonia (Argentina), affecting the environment and health of residents within the area. The aim of this work was to evaluate the practicability of using this waste material as a lowcost carrier for mycopesticide formulations. Beauveria bassiana is a recognized fungal agent for arthropod biologic control. Lengthy storage is critical for the development of mycoinsecticide formulations. Accordingly, the search for adequate materials to improve the shelf life of biocontrol products becomes desirable. First, several analytical techniques were employed to characterize the pyroclast physicochemically; then the viability of the fungal conidia was evaluated after an 18-month storage in the volcanic material. Finally, the pathogenicity of the conidia after that prolonged maintenance in the vehicle was assessed on the beetle Alphitobius diaperinus, an insect pest in poultry houses that causes major economic losses. The results from those bioassays proved auspicious for the eventual utilization of the pyroclast as a bioinsecticide carrier especially since the formulation had proven to be stable for at least 18 months under a wide range of environmental conditions. The constant moisture in a closed environment within a 5&#176;C - 40&#176;C temperature range insures a viable state during storage. The results indicate that what would otherwise be volcanic waste may be utilized as an efficient, abundant, inexpensive, and environmentally innocuous carrier of entomopathogenic fungi.
 
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