Development of a defined medium for Pythium oligandrum oospore production

Complex and defined media have been previously proposed for production of oospores of Pythium oligandrum, a fungal mycoparasite of several disease-causing fungi. However, oospore production in synthetic media requires long periods of incubation and yields lower oospore numbers than in complex media. Moreover, although complex media produce high oospore yields, these yields are not reproducible because of the variability in the composition of complex nutrient sources. In the present study, the average composition of molasses reported in the literature was utilized as a base to develop a new defined medium for P. oligandrum oospore production. Forty-two substrates defined in nine stock solutions: carbohydrates, vitamins, sterols, non-nitrogenous acids, amino acids, minerals, nucleic acid bases, CaCl2 and MgSO4 were tested at two levels (present or absent) in two fractional factorial designs. Each of these nine variables had a significant main effect on oospore production. Furthermore, the effect of each variable, except for vitamins, depended on the level of each other variable, expressed by two-variable interactions. The maximal predicted oospore production was calculated from the polynomial regressions associated with the two fractional factorial designs. Oospore productions were 1.3 and 2 x 10(6) oospores mL(-1) from the first and second designs. In order to optimize the oospore production, the two levels of each variable were modified and all variables were experimented in a selection of a complete factorial design (Plackett and Burman design). A fitted first-order polynomial regression equation provided the combination of levels of variables for optimal oospore production. A defined medium, based on this combination of levels, was used for P. oligandrum growth. The optimized oospore production after 7 days growth was 4 x 10(6) oospores mL(-1) as predicted by the polynomial regression. Oospore yields, biomass produced from oospores and oospore freeze-drying tolerance were similar when P. oligandrum was previously grown in molasses or in the new defined medium.