COCHLIOBOLUS SATIVUS: III. EFFECT OF ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION

Abstract
The lethal and mutagenic effect of ultraviolet light on two isolates of Cochliobolus sativus was studied. Conidia of a dark-spored strain were considerably more resistant to high doses of radiation than those of a white-spored strain. Ultraviolet radiation increased the frequency of mutation in the fungus. Mutants were recovered that differed from their parents in degree of sporulation, rate of growth, pigmentation, amount of aerial mycelium, topography and consistency of colony, and pathogenicity to wheat seedlings. Tetrads from crosses between weakly and highly pathogenic strains indicated that pathogenicity was not a clearly segregating character.