Rapid analysis of insecticidal metabolites from the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana 331R using UPLC-Q-Orbitrap MS

AbstractBeauveria bassiana, a representative entomopathogenic fungus, is increasingly being utilized as an eco-friendly pest management alternative to chemical insecticides. This fungus produces a range of insecticidal secondary metabolites that act as antimicrobial and immunosuppressive agents. However, detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis related to these compounds remains scarce, we developed a method for the rapid analysis of these metabolites. Eight secondary metabolites (bassianin, bassianolide, beauvericin, beauveriolide I, enniatin A, A1, and B, and tenellin) were efficiently extracted whenB. bassiana-infectedTenebrio molitor larvae were ground in 70% EtOH extraction solvent and subsequently subjected to ultrasonic treatment for 30  min. The eight metabolites were rapidly and simultaneously analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Orbitrap MS). Bassianolide (20.6–51.1 µg/g) and beauvericin (63.6–109.8 µg/g) were identified as the main metabolites inB. basssiana-infected larvae, indicating that they are likely major toxins ofB. bassiana. Validation of the method exhibited recovery rates in the range of 80 –115% and precision in the range of 0.1–8.0%, indicating no significant interference from compounds in the matrix. We developed a method to rapidly analyze eight insecticidal metabolites using UPLC-Q-Orbitrap MS. This can be extensively utilized for detecting and producing insecticidal ...

Source: Mycotoxin Research - November 16, 2023 Category: Toxicology Source Type: research