Application of microbial pesticides offers great potential for crop protection due to the rising costs of conventional pesticides and rising instances of pesticide toxicity. Entomopathogenic fungi are among the insect-killing fungi that hold great promise for lowering pest populations in agriculture and forestry. The wide range of entomopathogenic fungal biological control agents, which allows one isolate to cover several insect species, is one of its benefits for pest management. Due to its capacity to produce a variety of chemically diverse secondary metabolites, including Beauvericin, Beauveria bassiana, also known as "Sugar Icing Fungus," is a superior entomopathogenic fungus. However, secondary metabolite beauvericins contribute to the contamination of eggs, milk, meat, and plant products, allowing apoptosis and mitochondrial impairment.Concerns about its use should be investigated since harmful Beauveria species metabolites may infiltrate the plants. Beauveria bassiana's potential for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity was assessed using the Allium cepa test. In this work, the chromosomal aberration in Allium cepa was explicitly counted, quantified, and the dose and time response correlations between the B.bassiana crude extract and chromosomal aberrations were examined. The method described above was used to determine B.bassiana's potential for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. In this experiment, 10 onion bulbs were suspended in distilled water as control and 10%, 30%, and 50% concentrations of Entomopathogenic fungal (EPF) culture and crude extract for 48 hours. The mitotic index, micronucleus in interphase, and chromosomal aberrations in mitotic phases were determined by looking at and counting at least 100 cells on each slide. Nine slides were grouped for each treatment group after the experiment was duplicated three times, with three roots for each replication. Mitotic index and frequency of chromosomal aberration based on the number of aberrant cells per total cells scored at each concentration of each sample were calculated and data obtained from the mitotic index calculation were analyzed using Analysis of Variance Technique (ANOVA) at significant level of p < 0.05 using SPSS Program Version 17. Duncan’s multiple range test was performed to determine the significant differences between treatments (p < 0.05).It was discovered that the effects of Beauveria bassiana crude extract on Allium cepa's mitotic index and chromosomal aberrations were dose-dependent, thus B.bassiana crude extract exhibits cytotoxic and genotoxic effects at various doses and treatment intervals. This finding can serve as the foundation for further investigation into the ideal field application method and optimum B.bassiana concentration for entomopathogenic fungus.
