Protoplast isolation and regeneration were evaluated in two wild-type and two colour mutant strains of Metarhizium flavoviride. Cultivation in liquid medium, followed by mycelium treatment with Novozym 234 in the presence of KCl 0.7M as osmotic stabilizer, produced 5.05 x 10(6) to 1.15 x 10(7)x mL-1 protoplasts. The percentage of regeneration ranged from 6.65 to 27.92%. Following protoplast regeneration, one strain produced spontaneously stable morphological variant colonies. Although colonies with altered morphology have been reported in bacteria following protoplast regeneration, this is the first time that the same is described in a filamentous fungus. The original strain and one derived variant were tested for sensitivity to the fungicides benomyl and captan.
Metarhizium flavoviride; protoplasts; genetic variability; Benomyl; Captan
