American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2017, 8, 1224-1233 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ajps ISSN Online: 2158-2750 ISSN Print: 2158-2742 DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2017.86081 May 17, 2017 Impact of Entomopathogenic Fungi on the Growth, Development, and Health of Cabbage Growing under Water Stress Surendra K. Dara 1* , Sumanth S. R. Dara 2 , Suchitra S. Dara 2 1 University of California Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo, Solutions, Bakersfield, California, USA 2 Global Agricultural Solutions, Bakersfield, California, USA Abstract Entomopathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana, Isaria fumosorosea, and Metarhizium brunneum are commonly used in the form of biopesticides to manage various arthropod pests. These fungi also form endophytic and my- corrhiza-like relationships with plants. This study aimed at evaluating the impact of three entomopathogenic fungi on the growth, development, and health of cabbage plants grown under artificial lighting with limited water. Beauveria bassiana had a positive influence on the survival, growth, health, length, and dry weight of cabbage. Other fungi also had a positive impact on some of the measured parameters. Other beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae were also compared with the entomopathogenic fungi. This is the first report evaluating the non-entomopathogenic role of three entomopathogenic fungi on cabbage plants. Keywords Beauveria bassiana, Isaria fumosorosea, Metarhizium brunneum, Cabbage 1. Introduction Entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae), Isaria fumosorosea Wize (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae), and Metarhizium brunneum Petch (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) are ubiquitous soilborne organisms that are pathogenic to various arthropod pests [1]-[8]. These fungi are commercially available for their primary use as biopesticides to control arthropod pests in various cropping systems. Recent studies show that entomopathogenic fungi form an endophytic relationship with banana [9], cot- ton [10], oilseed rape [11], sorghum [12], strawberry [13] and negatively impact How to cite this paper: Dara, S.K. Dara, S.S.R. and Dara, S.S. (2017) Impact of Ento- mopathogenic Fungi on the Growth, Devel- opment, and Health of Cabbage Growing un- der Water Stress. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 8, 1224-1233. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2017.86081 Received: March 17, 2017 Accepted: May 14, 2017 Published: May 17, 2017 Copyright © 2017 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access