Disinfection by Ozone Microbubbles Can Cause Morphological Change of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis Spores

To investigate the difference in the disinfectant efficiency of ozone microbubbles ($O_3MB$) and ozone millibubbles ($O_3MMB$), the morphological change of the treated Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis spores was observed with scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM). The disinfectant efficiency of $O_3MB$ on F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis spores was greater than that of $O_3MMB$. On observation with SEM, it was revealed that morphological change of F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis spores was caused by $O_3MB$ and $O_3MMB$, and damage to the spore surfaces by $O_3MB$ occurred sooner than that by $O_3MMB$. On observation with TEM, it was furthermore confirmed that F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis spores treated with $O_3MB$ induced wavy deformation of cell membrane and the intracellular change different from that with $O_3MMB$. Therefore, the greater disinfection efficiency of $O_3MB$ was suggested to be caused due to the function of the MB in addition to the oxidative power of $O_3$.