Production and Regulation of Cuticle-Degrading Proteases from Beauveria bassiana in the Presence of Rhammatocerus schistocercoides Cuticle

Extracellular proteases have been shown to be virulence factors in fungal pathogenicity toward insects. We examined the production of extracellular proteases, subtilisin-like activity (Pr1) and trypsin-like activity (Pr2), by Beauveria bassiana CG425, which is a fungus of interest for control of the grasshopper Rhammatocerus schistocercoides. To access the role of these proteases during infection of R. schistocercoides, we analyzed their secretion during fungus growth either in nitrate-medium or in cuticle-containing medium supplemented with different amino acids. The enhancing effect of cuticle on Pr1 and Pr2 production suggests that these protease types may be specifically induced by components of the grasshopper cuticle. In medium supplemented with methionine a high level of Pr1 was observed. The remaining amino acids tested did not induce the protease to the levels seen with cuticle. The amino acid methionine seems to play a regulatory role in Pr1 secretion by B. bassiana, since both induction and repression seem to be dependent on the concentration of the amino acid present in the culture medium.