Effect of high-power monochromatic (pulsed UV laser) and low-power broadband UV radiation on Phytophthora spp. in irrigation water

Cysts or zoospores of Phytophthora capsici , P. citrophthora and P. nicotianae were suspended in distilled water or in recycled irrigation water collected from commercial nurseries. Propagules, suspended in shallow layers of still water in 60 mm-diameter plastic Petri dishes with lids off, were exposed to various UV doses emitted from either an excimer laser or a mercury vapor lamp. The laser emitted a monochromatic (248 nm, 5 eV/pulse), pulsed UV beam with an intensity of 1 to 2 mJ/cm 2 /pulse with 20-ns pulse durations and a high peak power of 50 to 100 kW/cm 2 /pulse. The UV lamp was from a commercial water purifier that emitted broadband (continuous) UV radiation at an intensity of ∼8 mW/cm 2 . Survival was assessed by culturing aliquots of the treated or non-treated suspensions onto corn meal agar amended with ampicillin (250 ppm) and rifampin (10 ppm), and then counting numbers of developing colonies. The UV dose (as energy per unit area) required to kill propagules was smaller when they were suspended in distilled water than when suspended in recycled nursery water. The reduced kill effectiveness in recycled water appears to be related to UV-absorbing soluble chemicals. Cysts and zoospores were equally susceptible to UV, although the high-peak power pulsed-UV laser source with ultra-short exposure times appeared to have greater kill effectiveness than the conventional Hg-vapor UV lamp. Phytophthora capsici and P. nicotianae isolates were somewhat less sensitive to UV than isolates of P. citrophthora obtained from various hosts and geographical regions. Furthermore, hyphae of Phytophthora spp. were less susceptible to UV than were cysts or zoospores.