I ordered a live sample of entomopathogen fungi Beauveria bassiana (a liquid culture and a slant), which I intend to culture to obtain spores, at the moment using to this protocol, though I will deviate if I think it makes sense.
This market resolves Yes if, before December 07th, 2023:
I obtain spores from Beauveria bassiana
Those spores, once put in solution and sprayed on fruit flies (or other target insect I can easily attract and culture at home), successfully grow on the chosen insect bodies (it does not need to provably kill it, just grow on it - this is because I don't know if fruit flies have sufficient lifespan)
Resolves N/A, or deadline extended, if the delivery of the original sample is cancelled or delayed.
Factor in favor:
I am formally educated in microbiology at the undergraduate level (including 1 semester of mycology + 1 semester of clinical mycology)
I'm gay, so you can expect a base level of competency
I have already successfully cultivated macromycetes
I want to do it - this is the sort of project which is fun to me
Factor in disfavor:
I have no experience with entomopathogen fungi, or agronomy-relevant molds
While I do have an autoclave and home mushroom growing supplies, I do not have access to a true mycology lab
I have only hobbyist level of time to dedicate to it - I have others things to do
I will take a small Yes share and put a limit order for motivation, then not trade any more on this market. I will update in the comments.
I reserve the right to discuss resolution in the comment, resolve N/A on ambiguity, and welcome suggestion about resolution, or culture of Beauveria bassiana, if done well in advance of the resolving event.
Related questions
@Bohaska Seller didnt actually deliver the spores I ordered 😡💢
I think I'm gonna N/A this under the "Samples not arrived" condition. I wanted a market about whether I would succeed in culturing - but the main difficulty is apparently getting anyone to reliably ship fungal products, quickly and as described on their website??!
@CamillePerrin What product are you using? Are you able to find BioCeres WP or Botaniguard 22wp?
@Aboczjr yeah I should be able to find some spore-based product for agriculture. I'm just a bit bummed out since actual live culture would have been much cleaner re: contamination.
@Aboczjr I will not use a hood - however I am contamination-aware (minimize exposure, good "lab hands") and work with multiple replica at every stages. In previous mushroom growing endeavors, around 80% of my replicas were contamination free.
@CamillePerrin What about the spore collection step. Will you use sieves? A larger insect like beetles might make it easier to apply the spores too.
@Aboczjr For collection, once the substrate is fully colonized, I will replace the jar lid with micropore tape (permeable to water vapor but not spore) and gently evaporate all water over a few days.
I will then sieve the substrate with increasingly fine sieves as described in the protocol (1 mm, 500 um, 250 um), and I will consider the resulting powder to be the spores for testing.
The testing itself is the diciest part, since I have never done something like that. I can get fruit flies larva at the animal shop, not sure I can get beetle or somesuch. I will take one larva separately, and put in in a jar with some of the nutritional substrate, and water. The jar cap has micropore port for gas exchange, as well as an injection ports - I will inject dry spore solution toward the "floor" of the jar once the adult stage of the fly is present in each jar. I will not try to apply directly, but spray as best I can uniformly, since surface contact ought to be sufficient. I will have control jars in the same condition except for the spores.
It will definitely not be quantitative - but fungal invasion pattern for this species is pretty distinct (sporulation starting through the articulation) so I think this ought to be enough to verify the strain is at least somewhat active, and that it is not random mold cross contamination. (The mycelium aspect in the culture will also be a clue)