Resistance of Thrips tabaci to pyrethroid and organophosphorus insecticides in Ontario, Canada

Onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, were collected from commercial onion fields in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to assess resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin and diazinon. In 2001, six of eight adult populations were resistant to lambda-cyhalothrin, with resistance ratios (RR) ranging from 2 to 13.1 and four of these were also resistant to deltamethrin, with RR ranging from 19.3 to 120. Three of four adult populations were resistant to diazinon with RR ranging from 2.5 to 165.8. In 2002, four of seven nymphal populations and three of six adult populations were resistant to deltamethrin, with RR ranging from 4.3 to 72.5 and 9.4 to 839.2, respectively. Only one of six nymphal populations and one of five adult populations were resistant to diazinon, with RR of 5.6 and 2.3, respectively. In 2003 diagnostic dose bioassays, 15 of 16 onion thrips populations were resistant to lambda-cyhalothrin and all were resistant to deltamethrin. Eight of the 16 were resistant to diazinon. These results indicate that insecticide resistance is widespread in onion thrips in commercial onion fields in Ontario.     

灰飞虱对几种杀虫剂的抗性

采用稻苗浸渍法测定了灰飞虱对7种常用杀虫剂的抗性。2011年监测了我国江苏、浙江、安徽三省9个灰飞虱种群对噻虫嗪、烯啶虫胺、毒死蜱、吡蚜酮、噻嗪酮、高效氯氰菊酯及氟虫腈的抗性。结果表明:灰飞虱对噻虫嗪都处于敏感阶段(0.6~2.2倍);对烯啶虫胺处于敏感阶段(0.8~3.0倍);对毒死蜱产生了中-高水平抗性(17.5~83.6倍);对吡蚜酮为敏感到低水平抗性(1.9~5.5倍);对噻嗪酮的抗性为高-极高水平(136.4~271.1倍);对高效氯氰菊酯的抗性为低-中等水平(5.2~34.9倍);对氟虫腈为低水平抗性(0.9~8.0倍)。基于灰飞虱对7种药剂的抗性情况,对田间治理灰飞虱合理使用药剂进行了讨论。     

宁夏地区烟粉虱对5种常用杀虫剂的抗药性

采用浸叶法分别测定了宁夏8个地区烟粉虱成虫田间种群对4类5种杀虫剂的抗性。结果表明,供试烟粉虱种群对高效氯氰菊酯已产生了中等至极高水平抗性,抗性倍数为33.31~227.98倍;对烯啶虫胺产生了中等至高水平抗性,抗性倍数为12.14~69.33倍;对毒死蜱和吡虫啉产生了低至中等水平抗性,抗性倍数分别为7.63~38.85倍和6.05~22.43倍,个别地区种群对吡虫啉尚处于敏感水平;对阿维菌素处于敏感性降低至中等水平抗性,抗性倍数为4.54~13.22倍。烟粉虱对5种杀虫剂的抗性有明显的区域性,抗性最为普遍且严重的地区为贺兰新平和吴忠,其次为贺兰产业园、石嘴山大武口、中卫和永宁,而西夏区军马场、固原烟粉虱种群的抗性则相对较低。对银川3地烟粉虱抗药性监测结果表明,在5种杀虫剂中,其对高效氯氰菊酯的抗性发展最为迅速,其次为烯啶虫胺,对阿维菌素和吡虫啉的抗性发展相对较慢,而西夏区军马场和贺兰产业园种群对毒死蜱敏感性有所恢复。     

山西省苹果园山楂叶螨对5种杀虫剂抗药性监测

为了明确山西省苹果园山楂叶螨(Amphitetranychus viennensis Zacher)对化学杀虫剂的抗性现状及发展趋势,本文采用玻片浸渍法建立了山楂叶螨相对敏感种群对5种杀虫剂的敏感基线,连续3年(2013-2015年)监测了采自山西省苹果主产区运城苹果园的山楂叶螨对5种杀虫剂的抗性水平及变化动态。监测结果表明:田间监测种群对阿维菌素和三唑锡均处于敏感性下降及低水平抗性阶段,对哒螨灵和噻螨酮的抗性由低水平抗性升至中等水平抗性,对炔螨特处于低水平抗性。田间防治山楂叶螨时,哒螨灵与噻螨酮应淘汰不再使用,阿维菌素、三唑锡、炔螨特则应注意减少用药量及轮换用药,以延缓产生更高水平的抗药性。     

华南及菲律宾稻白叶枯病病原菌株致病性比较研究

 用国际鉴别寄主及中国鉴别寄主分别在华南及菲律宾两地,同时多次重复研究、比较、分析两地的稻白叶枯病病原菌株的致病力。用人工剪接法测定明确了中国及菲律宾的病情分级调查记载标准呈显著相关,均能反映华南与菲律宾的病情调查实际结果。对4个菲律宾和5个华南菌群而言,"金南风"及"脱脱普"全感,而"早生爱国3号"和"爪哇14号"则全抗。"黄玉"对华南菌群Ⅰ及Ⅱ抵抗,但对Ⅲ及Ⅳ群与4个菲律宾菌群则全感。"IR8"及"Cas209"对5个华南菌群全感,而"DV85"则全抗。"IR20"及"IR1545-339"抗华南菌群Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ及Ⅳ,但感染Ⅴ群。"TN1"及"金刚30"等品种全部感染华南及菲律宾菌群。"IR26"抗华南菌群Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ和菲律宾菌群Ⅰ,但感染华南菌群Ⅴ和菲律宾菌群Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ。试验结果指出:华南菌群Ⅲ、Ⅳ的,致病力与菲律宾菌群Ⅰ相仿,而华南菌群Ⅴ则与菲律宾菌群Ⅳ相类似。此外,还研究比较分析了华南菌株与东南亚菲律宾、泰国和印度尼西亚诸国菌株间的致病力的异同情况。     

Monitoring of resistance of insecticides in house fly (Musca domestica) populations in hungary

Samples of 24 house fly (Musca domestica L.) populations were collected from animal farms in Hungary in 1990 and kept in the laboratory to determine their susceptibility to different types of insecticide: organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, macrocyclic lactone and insect growth regulators. The adulticides were tested with topical bioassay in all 24 populations, the larvicides were studied with treated larval medium in 16 populations. The data were expressed as LD₅₀ and LC₅₀ values (ng fly ?1 and mg kg ?1 larval medium respectively). The percentages of populations which had resistance ratios > 10 at LD₅₀ or LC₅₀ were: 63% to DDT, 50% to methoxychlor, 13% to lindane, 83% to malathion, 63% to trichlorfon, 4% to propetamphos, 96% to dioxacarb, 46% to propoxur, 4% to methomyl, 13% to pyrethrum, 96% to bioresmethrin, 63% to permethrin, 58% to cypermethrin, 79% to SK-80, 79% to deltamethrin, 38% to invermectin, 0% to diflubenzuron, 0% to cyromazine. Correlation analysis showed a high degree of positive correlation among the adulticides except for ivermectin, bioresmethrin and SK-80. No cross-resistance was found between the larvicides and the conventional adulticides. Differences of insecticide resistance levels among the populations surveyed were studied by principal component and factor analysis. A fairly good relationship between resistance status and control practices used on farms was revealed. The populations originating from those farms where the application of adulticides had been frequent or regular and where high resistance was shown to most chemicals could be separated from the others.     

Control of crop diseases through Integrated Crop Management to deliver climate-smart farming systems for low- and high-input crop production

Crop diseases affect crop yield and quality and cause significant losses of total food production worldwide. With the ever-increasing world population and decreasing land and water resources, there is a need not only to produce more food but also to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate climate change and avoid land use change and biodiversity loss. Thus, alternative climate-smart farming systems need to adapt to produce more food per hectare in a more sustainable way than conventional high-input farming systems. In addition to breeding new high-yielding cultivars adapted to future climates, there is a need to deploy Integrated Crop Management (ICM) strategies, relying less on synthetic inputs for fertilization and crop protection and less on fossil fuel-powered machinery to decrease yield losses due to pest and pathogens and guarantee food security. In this review, we compare some low-input farming systems to conventional agricultural systems with a focus on ICM solutions being developed to reduce synthetic inputs; these include crop genetic resistance to pathogens, intercropping, canopy architecture manipulation, and crop rotation. These techniques have potential to decrease crop disease frequency and severity by decreasing amounts and dispersal of pathogen inoculum and by producing microclimates that are less favourable for pathogen development, while decreasing GHG emissions and improving environmental sustainability. More research is needed to determine the best deployment of these ICM strategies in various cropping systems to maximize yield, crop protection, and other ecosystem services to address trade-offs between climate change and food security.     

水稻抗病性的遗传研究Ⅰ.水稻对白叶枯病抗性的遗传

 在1983-84两年中,用赣W-2和赣S-3两白叶枯病菌株分别接种8个杂交水稻组合的亲本、F₁、F₂和F₃代的结果表明,各抗病亲本所具有的抗W-2菌株的基因数目和作用方式均与其抗S-3菌株的基因数目和作用方式相同。就对W-2或S-3菌株的单一抗性来说,早36具有2对显性抗病基因;VT34-1具有2对互补的显性抗病基因;IR26和3624-33都具有3对互补的显性抗病基因。
在VT34-1中,有1对基因既控制对W-2菌株的抗性又控制对S-3菌株的抗性,另外2对基因则分别控制对这两菌株之一的抗性。在早36中,抗W-2菌株的2个独立基因分别与抗S-3菌株的2个独立基因连锁,其配子重组值为13.3%,基因重组值为6.887%。在IR26和3624-33中,抗W-2的菌株的3个独立基因均与抗S-3菌株的3个独立基因连锁,但它们的配子重组值和基因重组值均无法估计。预料同时选择对W-2和S-3菌株的抗性非常容易。     

近两年贵州省白背飞虱的抗药性现状

采用稻茎浸渍法测定了2013年和2014年采自贵州省贵阳、平坝、遵义、黔西、平塘及玉屏6地白背飞虱种群对8种杀虫剂的敏感性。测定结果表明,白背飞虱对噻虫嗪的敏感性最高,LC50值为0.060~0.93 mg/L(平均0.33mg/L);其次为吡虫啉、毒死蜱、环氧虫啶和噻嗪酮,其LC50值分别为0.080~2.84mg/L(平均1.03mg/L)、1.09~3.89 mg/L(平均2.27 mg/L)、0.59~10.07 mg/L(平均2.71 mg/L)和0.28~18.15 mg/L(平均4.96mg/L);白背飞虱对敌敌畏、吡蚜酮和异丙威的敏感性相对较低,LC50值为0.89~57.96mg/L,LC50平均值分别为10.03、12.16和22.44mg/L。两年抗药性检测结果表明,贵州省6地白背飞虱种群对吡蚜酮、噻嗪酮和吡虫啉表现出低至中等水平的抗性,而对其余5种药剂仍较敏感。     

小麦条锈菌鉴别寄主尤皮Ⅱ号抗条锈性遗传分析

小麦品种尤皮Ⅱ号是重要的中国小麦条锈菌鉴别寄主.为研究尤皮Ⅱ号的抗条锈性遗传基础,将该品种分别与感病品种铭贤169及其它抗病品种杂交,获得各组合的F1、BC1和F2代群体.在温室对各组合亲本及F1、BC1和F2代群体进行了苗期抗性鉴定.结果表明,尤皮Ⅱ号对CY29菌系的抗性由两对隐性基因独立或重叠遗传控制;对CY23的抗性由两对显性基因互补遗传控制;对CY31的抗性亦由两对显性基因互补遗传控制,而对Su-1的抗性则由一对显性基因控制.抗CY29的两对基因不抗CY23、CY31和Su-1,因此将这两对基因暂定名为YrJu1和YrJu2.抗CY23的两对基因中,其中一对同时抗CY31和Su-1,该基因与Spaldings prolific中的一对基因等位或紧密连锁,将该基因暂定名为YrJu3;另一对则与抗引655中的一对抗性基因等位或紧密连锁,暂定名为YrJu4.YrJu1、YrJu2、YrJu3和YrJu4均与其它供试品种中的已知抗性基因不同.     

宁南旱地小杂粮产业开发技术研究

立足宁南旱地小杂粮生产现状,通过分析影响产业化发展的主要限制因子,提出了以持续增进降水生产潜力,提高降水利用率和农田水分效率为重点,大力推广优质高效抗旱新品种及配套栽培技术、优化集成抗旱节水农业技术、培肥土壤、建设高产稳产基本农田、加强产业化开发等关键技术。     

从经食、饮水和吸入途径评估8种经济林常用农药对鸟类的暴露风险

采用《农药登记 环境风险评估指南 第3部分:鸟类》中的暴露分析模型及美国环保署的SIP模型和STIR模型,分别从经食、饮水和吸入3种途径对残杀威、虫螨腈、敌敌畏、敌百虫、马拉硫磷、杀螟硫磷、茚虫威和甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐8种农药对鸟类的暴露风险进行了评估。农药的登记作物信息及其用药数据来源于 “中国农药信息网”,鸟类的毒理学数据源于美国环保署、欧洲食品安全局、有机小分子生物活性数据库以及农药特性数据库。评估结果表明:经食途径暴露后,残杀威对鸟类的初级急性风险为不可接受,对鸟类的初级长期风险为可接受,敌敌畏、虫螨腈、敌百虫和杀螟硫磷对鸟类的初级急性、短期和长期风险均不可接受,马拉硫磷对鸟类的初级短期和长期风险均不可接受,茚虫威和甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐对鸟类的初级急性、短期和长期风险均可接受;通过饮水途径暴露后,虫螨腈和茚虫威对鸟类的急性和慢性风险无需关注,其余6种农药对鸟类的急性和慢性风险需引起关注;通过吸入途径暴露后,只有敌敌畏的挥发吸入风险需引起关注,其余7种农药对鸟类的雾滴吸入和挥发吸入风险均无需关注。综上所述,8种林业常用农药中,仅茚虫威通过经食、饮水和吸入3种途径暴露后对鸟类的风险可接受或无需关注,因此,除茚虫威外,其余7种农药在林业上使用时对鸟类的风险均需加以关注。评估结果可为今后这8种农药在经济林中安全施用提供参考,同时也对我国鸟类风险评估方法的完善提出了建议。但本研究开展的仅为初级风险评估,评估结果较为保守,后续还可通过开展相关调查及毒理学研究,进一步优化评估参数,获得更为精确的评估结果。     

滇西南菜区小菜蛾发生规律及抗药性现状

为掌握滇西南菜区小菜蛾的发生规律和抗药性现状, 2013-2017年进行了田间系统调查幼虫、性信息素诱集成虫和室内毒力测定。结果表明:滇西南菜区小菜蛾田间种群每年早春存在种群激增现象, 3-5月份出现春季高峰期, 6月后种群数量保持较低水平。抗性测定表明, 该地区小菜蛾对丁醚脲、Bt、氯虫苯甲酰胺、虫螨腈、茚虫威均为低水平抗性, 对氟啶脲和多杀霉素为中等水平抗性; 对阿维菌素为中到高抗,对高效氯氰菊酯为高抗水平。建议该区域1-5月放置性信息素诱杀成虫, 3-4月用丁醚脲、Bt制剂、氯虫苯甲酰胺、虫螨腈、茚虫威等进行化学防治, 6-12月小菜蛾的发生虫量在经济阈值下, 可不防治。     

Amaranthus palmeri resistance and differential tolerance of Amaranthus palmeri and Amaranthus hybridus to ALS-inhibitor herbicides

Suspected imazaquin-resistant accessions of Amaranthus palmeri were studied to determine the magnitude of resistance and cross-resistance to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides and compare differential tolerance of A palmeri and Amaranthus hybridus to ALS inhibitors. Five of seven A palmeri accessions were resistant to imazaquin. The most imazaquin-resistant accession, accession 7, also showed 74, 39 and 117 times higher resistance than the susceptible biotype to chlorimuron, diclosulam and pyrithiobac, respectively. Resistance to imazaquin and cross-resistance to other ALS inhibitors in A palmeri was due to a less-sensitive ALS enzyme. A palmeri was 70 times more tolerant to imazaquin than A hybridus. A palmeri was also seven times more tolerant to pyrithiobac than A hybridus. Differences in ALS enzyme sensitivity could not fully account for the high tolerance of A palmeri to imazaquin compared to A hybridus. Both species were equally affected by chlorimuron and diclosulam.     

大兴县荒漠化生态安全评价研究

根据大兴县荒漠化地区的环境特点,提出了生态安全评价的具体指标体系和构建原则,并采用数量化原理与方法,对各指标进行了具体量级划分,同时利用关联度分析方法,确定了指标的系数,并提出了衡量生态安全程度的数量化指标、生态安全系数及其计算方法.以土壤养分、水分条件、植被状况和风力4个影响生态安全因子确定了指标体系.以土壤有机质含量、林草地覆盖度、降水量和土壤粘沙比为生态安全评价的具体指标,计算了各个因子对生态安全影响程度.根据土地利用情况,确定了大兴县624个土地利用单元的生态安全系数,采用GIS平台得到了大兴地区的生态安全评价图.研究成果可直接为环北京治沙防沙重点工程的实施提供指导,研究方法可供区域生态安全评价借鉴.     

Modeling dose-response relationships in biological control: partitioning host responses to the pathogen and biocontrol agent

ABSTRACT Breeding plants to improve the effectiveness of biocontrol agents is a promising approach to enhance disease suppression by microorganisms. Differences in biocontrol efficacy among cultivars suggest there is genetic variation for this trait within crop germplasm. The ability to quantify host differences in support of biological control is influenced by variation in host response to the pathogen and the dose of pathogen and biocontrol agent applied to the host. To assess the contribution of each of these factors to successful biocontrol interactions, we measured disease over a range of pathogen (Pythium) and biocontrol agent (Bacillus cereus UW85) inoculum doses. We fit dose-response models to these data and used model parameter estimates to quantify host differences in response to the pathogen and biocontrol agent. We first inoculated eight plant species separately with three species of Pythium and evaluated three dose-response models for their ability to describe the disease response to pathogen inoculum level. All three models fit well to at least some of the host-pathogen combinations; the hyperbolic saturation model provided the best overall fit. To quantify the host contribution to biological control, we next evaluated these models with data from a tomato assay, using six inbred tomato lines, P. torulosum, and UW85. The lowest dose of pathogen applied revealed the greatest differences in seedling mortality among the inbred lines, ranging from 40 to 80%. The negative exponential (NE) pathogen model gave the best fit to these pathogen data, and these differences corresponded to model parameter values, which quantify pathogen efficiency, of 0.023 and 0.091. At a high pathogen dose, we detected the greatest differences in biocontrol efficacy among the inbred lines, ranging from no effect to a 68% reduction in mortality. The NE pathogen model with a NE biocontrol component, the NE/NE biocontrol model, gave the best fit to these biocontrol data, and these reductions corresponded to model parameter values, which quantify biocontrol efficiency, of 0.00 and 0.038, respectively. There was no correlation between the host response to the pathogen and biocontrol agent for these inbred lines. This work demonstrates the utility of epidemiological modeling approaches for the study of biological control and lays the groundwork to employ manipulation of host genetics to improve biocontrol efficacy.     

磺酰脲类除草剂对禾谷类作物的安全性及药害研究

采用田间小区试验方法,测定了4种磺酰脲类除草剂对玉米、小麦、谷子、高粱4种禾本科作物的安全性。结果表明,4%玉农乐悬浮剂苗后茎叶处理,有效成份推荐量40g/hm²对玉米安全,2倍量80g/hm²对玉米有轻微药害,3倍量120g/hm²对玉米药害严重,植株矮化穗小。推荐量对小麦、谷子、高粱药害严重,苗期死亡;75%宝收干悬浮剂播后苗前土壤处理,有效成分推荐量25g/hm²、2倍量50g/hm²和3倍量75g/hm²对4种作物均安全。苗后茎叶处理,3个剂量对小麦均无明显药害。推荐量对玉米安全,高粱有轻度药害,谷子药害严重,苗期死亡。2倍量玉米有轻度药害,高粱药害严重,部分苗期死亡。3倍量玉米和高粱药害严重,玉米不能恢复正常生长,高粱大部分苗期枯死;25%宝成干悬浮剂苗后茎叶处理,有效成分推荐量18.75g/hm²推荐量对玉米安全,2倍量37.5g/hm²对玉米有轻微药害,7d左右恢复正常生长。推荐量对小麦、谷子、高粱均有药害,2倍量药害严重,苗期死亡;20%豆磺隆可溶性粉剂播后苗前土壤处理,有效成份推荐量15g/hm²下对4种作物均安全,2倍量30g/hm²和3倍量45g/hm²下对玉米、小麦、谷子安全,高粱有轻度药害。苗后茎叶处理,推荐量、2倍量和3倍量对小麦均安全。推荐量对谷子安全,2倍量和3倍量谷子有轻度药害。推荐量下玉米、高粱均有药害,2倍量和3倍量药害严重,不能恢复正常生长。     

Evaluating and modeling the spatiotemporal pattern of regional-scale salinized land expansion in highly sensitive shoreline landscape of southeastern Iran

Taking an area of about 2.3×10⁴ km² of southeastern Iran, this study aims to detect and predict regional-scale salt-affected lands. Three sets of Landsat images, each set containing 4 images for 1986, 2000, and 2015 were acquired as the main source of data. Radiometric, atmospheric and cutline blending methods were used to improve the quality of images and help better classify salinized land areas under the support vector machine method. A set of landscape metrics was also employed to detect the spatial pattern of salinized land expansion from 1986 to 2015. Four factors including distance to sea, distance to sea water channels, slope, and elevation were identified as the main contributing factors to land salinization. These factors were then integrated using the multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) procedure to generate land sensitivity map to salinization and also to calibrate the cellular-automata (CA) Markov chain (CA-Markov) model for simulation of salt-affected lands up to 2030, 2040 and 2050. The results of this study showed a dramatic dispersive expansion of salinized land from 7.7 % to 12.7% of the total study area from 1986 to 2015. The majority of areas prone to salinization and the highest sensitivity of land to salinization was found to be in the southeastern parts of the region. The result of the MCE-informed CA-Markov model revealed that 20.3% of the study area is likely to be converted to salinized lands by 2050. The findings of this research provided a view of the magnitude and direction of salinized land expansion in a past-to-future time period which should be considered in future land development strategies.     

山东省不同地区棉蚜对新烟碱类杀虫剂的抗药性检测及酶抑制剂的增效作用研究

为明确山东省棉蚜对新烟碱类杀虫剂的抗性水平,采用毛细管微量点滴法测定了泰安、聊城和东营3个田间种群及1个敏感种群对吡虫啉、烯啶虫胺、啶虫脒、噻虫嗪、噻虫啉、噻虫胺6种新烟碱类杀虫剂的敏感性,同时测定了磷酸三苯酯(TPP)、顺丁烯二酸二乙酯(DEM)和增效醚(PBO)3种酶抑制剂的增效作用。结果表明:泰安棉蚜种群对烯啶虫胺的抗性倍数为16.95,处于中等抗性水平,对吡虫啉和啶虫脒的抗性倍数分别为5.69和9.57,已产生低水平抗性,对噻虫胺、噻虫嗪和噻虫啉的抗性倍数均小于3.0,仍较敏感;聊城棉蚜种群对吡虫啉、啶虫脒和噻虫嗪的抗性倍数分别为28.51、25.88和18.16,属中等抗性水平,对噻虫啉和噻虫胺的抗性倍数分别为6.01和6.37,已产生低水平抗性,对烯啶虫胺仍处于敏感阶段;东营棉蚜种群对吡虫啉、啶虫脒和噻虫胺的抗性倍数分别为37.95、21.52和12.95,已产生中等水平抗性,对噻虫啉、烯啶虫胺和噻虫嗪的抗性倍数分别为7.07、6.38和4.75,处于低水平抗性阶段。多功能氧化酶抑制剂PBO和羧酸酯酶抑制剂TPP对6种供试新烟碱类杀虫剂的增效作用明显,谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶抑制剂DEM对这6种药剂也具有一定的增效作用。研究表明,山东省泰安等3地区棉蚜种群对6种新烟碱类杀虫剂均产生了不同程度的抗药性,多功能氧化酶和羧酸酯酶可能在棉蚜对该类杀虫剂的抗性中起主要作用,谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶可能也具有一定的作用。     

Fungal Sensitivity to and Enzymatic Degradation of the Phytoanticipin alpha-Tomatine

ABSTRACT alpha-Tomatine, synthesized by Lycopersicon and some Solanum species, is toxic to a broad range of fungi, presumably because it binds to 3beta-hydroxy sterols in fungal membranes. Several fungal pathogens of tomato have previously been shown to be tolerant of this glycoalkaloid and to possess enzymes thought to be involved in its detoxification. In the current study, 23 fungal strains were examined for their ability to degrade alpha-tomatine and for their sensitivity to this compound and two breakdown products, beta(2)-tomatine and tomatidine. Both saprophytes and all five non-pathogens of tomato tested were sensitive, while all but two tomato pathogens (Stemphylium solani and Verticillium dahliae) were tolerant of alpha-to-matine (50% effective dose > 300 muM). Except for an isolate of Botrytis cinerea isolated from grape, no degradation products were detected when saprophytes and nonpathogens were grown in the presence of alpha-tomatine. All tomato pathogens except Phytophthora infestans and Pythium aphani-dermatum degraded alpha-tomatine. There was a strong correlation between tolerance to alpha-tomatine, the ability to degrade this compound, and pathogenicity on tomato. However, while beta(2)-tomatine and tomatidine were less toxic to most tomato pathogens, these breakdown products were inhibitory to some of the saprophytes and nonpathogens of tomato, suggesting that tomato pathogens may have multiple tolerance mechanisms to alpha-tomatine.