FIG 3.

Aerial conidiation and conidial quality of B. bassiana in the absence of flrA and of both flrA and fluG. (A, B) Conidial yields and biomass levels measured from the SDAY cultures during a 12-day incubation at the optimal regime of 25°C and L:D 12:12, respectively. The cultures were initiated by spreading 100-μL aliquots of a 10⁷ conidia/mL suspension. (C) Mean size and complexity (density) of conidia denoted by the FSc and SSc readings in the flow cytometry (FC) of 2 × 10⁴ conidia (per sample). (D) Fluorescence intensity (FL) readings indicating the contents of hydrocarbon epitopes on the surfaces of 2 × 10⁴ conidia (per sample) labeled with the fluorescent lectins ConA, WGA, GNL and PNA, respectively. (E) Conidial GT₅₀ (h) assessed at 25°C and hydrophobicity (HPB) index assessed in a diphasic (aqueous-organic) system. (F) LT₅₀ (min) for conidial tolerance to a 45°C wet-heat stress and LD₅₀ (J/cm²) for conidial resistance to UVB irradiation. (G) Relative transcript (RT) levels of five hydrophobin family genes in the 3-day-old SDAY cultures of all mutants with respect to the WT standard. Upper and lower dashed lines denote significant levels of 1-fold up- and downregulation, respectively. P < 0.05*; 0.01**; or 0.001*** in Tukey’s HSD tests. Error bars: SDs of the means from three independent replicates.