VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Effects of Ozone on the Sporulation, Germination, and Pathogenicity of Botrytis cinerea. Charles R. Krause, Research Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Nursery Corps Research Laboratory, Delaware, OH 43015; T. Craig Weidensaul, Director of the Laboratory for Environmental Studies and Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH 44691. Phytopathology 68:195-198. Accepted for publication 6 July 1977. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-195.

Studies were made to determine if Botrytis cinerea conidia remain viable when grown in vivo and in vitro in the presence of ambient ozone levels and whether ozonized conidia retain pathogenicity. Ozone at 599 μg/m³ (0.30 ppm) for two 6-hr periods significantly inhibited B. cinerea sporulation and germination in vivo and in vitro. Conidia ozonized in vitro at 299 μg/m³ (0.15 ppm) for two 6-hr periods caused less infection than non-ozonized conidia based on total lesion area. No Botrytis lesions were induced on detached leaves inoculated with ozonized conidia. Results indicated that ozonization of conidia produced in vivo and in vitro decreased germination of conidia, germ tube length, pathogenicity, and/or virulence.