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Timing and duration of light exposure during conidia development determine tolerance to ultraviolet radiation.

Metarhizium is an important genus of soil-inhabiting fungi that are used for the biological control of insects. The efficiency of biocontrol is dependent on the maintenance of inoculum viability under adverse field conditions such as solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Therefore, increasing tolerance of Metarhizium to UV radiation is necessary. It was previously stablished that, in mycelium, exposure to visible light increases tolerance to UV radiation. Similarly, growth under visible light for 14 days induces the production of tolerant conidia. However, a study evaluating if and how visible light affects conidia and their relationship with UV radiation was never performed. Here we report that a relatively short and timed exposure to light around the time of conidiation is sufficient to induce the production of conidia with increased photoreactivating capacity and UV tolerance in Metarhizium acridum. Conidia produced by this method retain their characteristic higher tolerance even after many days of being transferred to dark. Furthermore, we show that mature conidia can still answer to light and regulate UV tolerance, suggesting that gene expression is possible even in dormant spores. Being able to respond to light in dormant stages of development is certainly an advantage conferring improved environmental persistence to Metarhizium.