Effects of Simulated and Natural Sunlight on the Germination of Conidia of Metarhizium flavoviride Gams and Rozsypal and Interactions with Temperature

Abstract

The effects of natural and simulated sunlight on conidia of Metarhizium flavoviride Gams and Rozsypal formulated in oil were investigated. The germination responses of conidia exposed to simulated sunlight usually followed an exponential pattern, but a cubic relationship was better in one instance when the conidia were allowed a longer time to germinate. Conidia exposed to natural sunlight in West Africa showed cubic relationships in their germination responses and greater inactivation/increment of ultraviolet (UV) dose compared with that from simulated sunlight. This was probably due to the greater intensity of UV irradiation compared with simulated sunlight, but an interaction with temperature occurs naturally in the field. Under laboratory and field conditions, UV light caused increasing levels of damage as the temperature rose; with simulated sunlight, UV levels that caused a 20% reduction in germination at 20 C caused an 80% reduction at 50 C.