Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation on Fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, Pure and Encapsulated, and Bio-Insecticide Action on Diatraea saccharalis

The effect of ultraviolet radiation on entomopathogenic fungi can be very prejudicial for causing damage to the conidia. Formulations can help protecting these fungal structures against radiation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of UV radiation on pure and encapsulated conidia Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato, and to evaluate their pathogenicity on the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis. The pure conidia and the sodium alginate capsules containing the fungi were submitted to the ultraviolet radiation in different temperatures and exposure times. On the pure conidia, the radiation had a deleterious effect after 5 minutes of exposure, going from 94% to 52% germination for B. bassiana and from 96% to 54% for M. anisopliae. The alginate formulation protected the B. bassiana conidia against the radiation in all times they were evaluated (15 minutes to 48 hours), because, even after exposure, the fungi remained viable. The dry encapsulated conidia B. bassiana caused 79.6% mortality of the studied pest and the M. anisopliae caused only 10%.