Kinetic evaluation of conidial germination of Botrytis cinerea by a spectrofluorometric method

A fluorometric-based method for the kinetic measurement of conidia growth of Botrytis cinerea in liquid culture is described. The method involves an oxido-reduction dye, Alamar blue, as an indicator of growth. The effect of nystatin, a non-specific antifungal agent, was studied on conidial germination. An excellent correlation was found between the IC50 obtained by the fluorometric method, and by microscopic measurement. The method is rapid and quantitative, and requires only a small amount of chemicals and fungal material. Since the measurements were performed in a 96-well plate, it is possible to test many different parameters in parallel.