Fungicide tolerant mutation of entomopathogenic fungi induced by carbon ion beams

Saito, Tsutomu*; Shinohara, Shinobu*; Sato, Katsuya; Narumi, Issei

Entomopathogenic fungi, and , are important agents to control insect pests, but the fungi are highly susceptible to conventional fungicides for plant diseases such as powdery mildew. The purpose of this study is to generate mutants tolerant to fungicides (benomyl and triflumizole) using carbon ion beams. Two-step irradiation with rays (50 and 500 Gy) and carbon ion beams (100 and 200 Gy) was also tested. Our results indicate that carbon ion beam irradiation is greatly useful for making fungicide-tolerant mutants of entomopathogenic fungi. Further studies will be needed to determine pathogenicity of the mutants against host insects.