Descrição
Keywords: Conidium production, Electromagnetic field, Plant pathogenic fungi.
The negative and potentially harmful effects of electromagnetic waves and fields generated by mobile phone antennas (BTS), towers, high-voltage power lines, and modern wireless technologies, alongside the convenience and comfort they provide to human life, on living organisms and the environment-particularly human health-represent a significant concern in the present century. Investigating the effects of electromagnetic fields on plant pathogenic fungi from the perspective of plant pathology and agriculture requires scientific research. This study examined the effect of an electromagnetic field generated by two MikroTik Routerboard antennas (SXT Lite 5 model) with an intensity of E₁ = 2.6526 × 10⁻³ T, 1.000007806 μV/m, 67.8 × 10⁻⁶ dBμV/m, 5 dB, and a frequency of 5320 Hz, on three plant pathogenic fungi: Alternaria solani, Fusarium solani, and Magnaporthe oryzae under laboratory conditions. Seven-day-old pure cultures of each fungus were exposed to the electromagnetic field for 60 minutes, and subsequently, both treated and control Petri dishes were incubated for 14 days at 25 °C under alternating 12-hour light and dark cycles. Biological variables included Radial Mycelial Growth Inhibition Rate (%) and the Conidium Production Index (CPI), measured by averaging the number of conidia counted in 10 random fields of view under a light microscope (0.1 mm² area) using a 10× objective. Conidia counts were scored according to the scale of Flier et al. (2001). Results demonstrated that the electromagnetic field caused a significant inhibition of mycelial growth in all three fungi compared to the controls at p<0.01. The highest growth inhibition was observed in A. solani (57.3%), the lowest in F. solani (30.8%), and M. oryzae showed 41.25% inhibition. Regarding conidium production, the electromagnetic field reduced the CPI by 50% in A. solani and M. oryzae and by 25% in F. solani. This study indicates that electromagnetic fields can significantly affect the growth and reproduction of the three plant pathogenic fungi investigated (A. solani, F. solani, and M. oryzae) and may provide a basis for further research on other plant pathogenic fungi.
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