Influence of spray schedules on fungicide resistant populations of Botrytis cinerea Pers. on grapevine

Treatments with dicarboximide fungicides provided only 20 to 40% control of grey mould on grape (cv. Moscato d'Asti) in vineyards where benzimidazole and dicarboximide resistant strains ofBotrytis cinerea Pers. constituted about 50% of the fungal population and a high disease pressure existed. The percentage of dicarboximide resistant strains increased after treatment. Fungicide combinations of a benzimidazole with diethofencarb, sprayed twice per season or once alternated with a dicarboximide, provided satisfactory control of grey mould and decreased the percetage of benzimidazole resistant strains. A combination of thiram and procymidone controlled grey mould, but increased dicarboximide resistance in the population.     

甜菜褐斑病菌对苯并咪唑类杀菌剂抗药性的研究

1980～1981年期间,自各地甜菜褐斑病病叶样本上分离出563个单孢菌株,并测定了各菌系对甲基托布津的敏感性。结果表明,山东高密、江苏东辛农场等地单独使用苯并咪唑杀菌剂3～4年以后,病菌产生了严重的抗药性,黑龙江巴彦、呼兰、山东薛城等地因没有或极少用药防治,病菌仍然表现敏感。山东菏泽、滕县等地已有一定数量的抗性菌株,但分布尚不普遍。试验证实,抗性菌株对甲基托布津、多菌灵和苯来特等三种苯并咪唑杀菌剂具有交互抗性,百菌清、醋苯锡和毒菌锡对抗性及敏感病菌均有良好效果。目前可选择百菌清作为苯并咪唑类的主要替换药剂。初步观察,停止用药后三年以内抗性菌株的数量及抗性程度仍然保持稳定。此外,甜菜频繁调种加速了抗性病菌的扩散。建议未发现抗性的地区应尽量避免从抗性严重的地区调种。     

番茄叶霉病菌异菌脲抗药性突变体的诱导与生物学性状

测定了苯并咪唑类杀菌剂敏感-乙霉威抗性(BenS-DieR)、苯并咪唑类杀菌剂抗性-乙霉威敏感(BenR-DieS)和苯并咪唑类杀菌剂抗性-乙霉威抗性(BenR-DieR)3种类型的番茄叶霉病菌Cladosporium fulvum菌株对不同类型药剂的敏感性。结果表明,蕃茄叶霉病菌对供试药剂的敏感性与其对苯并咪唑类杀菌剂及乙霉威的敏感性无关。根据药剂对3类菌株EC50值的平均值, 16种杀菌剂抑制菌丝生长的活性依次为腐霉利＞乙烯菌核利＞异菌脲＞戊唑醇＞百菌清＞嘧霉胺＞醚菌酯＞代森锰锌＞8-羟基喹啉铜＞丙环唑＞苯醚甲环唑＞嘧菌酯＞灭锈胺＞烯酰吗啉＞烟酰胺＞三唑酮;抑制孢子萌发的活性依次为醚菌酯＞腐霉利＞百菌清＞乙烯菌核利＞灭锈胺＞8-羟基喹啉铜＞异菌脲＞代森锰锌＞嘧菌酯＞烟酰胺＞嘧霉胺＞戊唑醇＞丙环唑＞苯醚甲环唑＞三唑酮＞烯酰吗啉。通过紫外诱变共获得17株抗异菌脲突变体,突变频率为4.5×10-7。其中低抗、中抗和高抗菌株分别占 17.65%、70.59%和11.75%。这些突变体对腐霉利和乙烯菌核利表现交互抗性,对苯并咪唑类、脱甲基抑制剂(DMIs)、QoIs等药剂的敏感性与亲本菌株之间没有显著性差异,与亲本菌株在生长、产孢、致病能力等方面也无显著差异,但对渗透胁迫的敏感性要显著高于亲本。     

Management and cross-infectivity potential of Colletotrichum acutatum causing anthracnose on bell pepper in Florida

Early anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum acutatum has become an increasingly serious disease on green, unripe bell pepper fruit in Florida. This contrasts with earlier reports of anthracnose occurring on bell pepper primarily as a ripe-rot disease of mature, colored pepper fruit caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Management of anthracnose on green bell pepper fruit using fungicides and a commercial inducer of systemic acquired resistance, acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), was evaluated during three seasons. In two of the three trials, all the fungicides tested including azoxystrobin, fludioxonil + cyprodinil, mancozeb, famoxadone + cymoxanil, copper hydroxide, and ASM significantly increased the number of marketable fruit compared with control plants. These trials identified fungicides that could contribute to a successful pest management program on pepper for controlling anthracnose caused by C. acutatum. The cross-infectivity potential of C. acutatum was investigated on tomato and strawberry by in vitro and field inoculation. Anthracnose lesions formed readily on wound-inoculated detached fruits of all hosts in in vitro assays. Under field conditions, after inoculation, anthracnose lesions occurred on pepper fruit but no lesions of anthracnose were found on either ripe or unripe tomato or strawberry fruit in adjacent plots.     

Resistance to polyoxin AL and other fungicides in Botrytis cinerea collected from sweet basil crops in Israel

A total of 568 B. cinerea isolates were collected from diseased sweet basil plants and the air in 10 sweet basil greenhouses. Mycelial growth tests were used to evaluate the sensitivity of these isolates to benomyl, fenhexamid, iprodione, polyoxin AL and pyrimethanil. EC₅₀ values for polyoxin, the main botryticide on sweet basil in Israel, ranged from 0.4 to 6.5 μg ml^?1 and had a bimodal distribution; the EC₅₀ values for sensitive isolates ranged from 0.4 to 1.5 μg ml^?1 and the EC₅₀ values for low-level resistant isolates ranged from 4 to 6.5 μg ml^?1. Among populations that had not been exposed to polyoxin treatments, 20 to 35 % of the collected isolates were low-level resistant for polyoxin. Polyoxin treatments in an experimental greenhouse shifted the equilibrium in favour of low-level resistant isolates, and the change occurred rapidly: from a frequency of 20 % low-level resistant isolates in the population that had never been treated with polyoxin to a frequency of 72 % after a few treatments over two seasons. Prolonged use of polyoxin in Israeli basil crops (in some sites for more than 10 years) does not appear to have led to the development of high-level resistance, but low-level resistant isolates were found in commercial greenhouses with the frequency of up to 73 %. High-level resistance to benzimidazoles was common (60 to 80 % of isolates) in greenhouses with a history of benzimidazole treatments; whereas 15–25 % of the isolates from greenhouses in which fungicides were not used were resistant. Low-level resistance to dicarboximides was fairly widespread (frequency of 30 to 80 % depending on the greenhouse) and a few cases of moderate resistance to dicarboximides were also noted (frequency of 0 to 9 %). Neither high- nor low-level resistance to anilinopyrimidines was common in sweet basil commercial greenhouses (0 to 7 %). However, 34 % of the isolates were strongly resistant in the experimental greenhouse, following a few treatments with anilinopyrimidine fungicides during the previous season. Before those treatments, the proportion of anilinopyrimidines resistant isolates had been 1 %. About 3 % of the isolates exhibited low-level resistance to fenhexamid and no isolates were found to be strongly resistant to fenhexamid. Low-level resistance to one fungicide was often associated with low-level resistances to other fungicides. Thirty-two phenotypes exhibiting resistance to one or more of the tested fungicides were noted among B. cinerea isolates. Resistant isolates showed similar or reduced fitness parameters in comparison to wild-type isolates.     

New Cases of Negative Cross-resistance between Fungicides,Including Sterol Biosynthesis Inhibitors

A survey of fungicide resistance in Mycosphaerella graminicola and Tapesia acuformis, two major pathogens of winter wheat in France, respectively responsible for speckled leaf blotch and eyespot, led to the characterization of two types of resistant strains to sterol 14α-demethylation inhibitors (DMIs). Most of the strains of M. graminicola collected in France in 1997–1998 were resistant to all DMIs, and only in a few strains was the resistance to several triazoles associated with increased susceptibility to pyrimidine derivatives (i.e., fenarimol, nuarimol) and triflumizole. On the other hand, in T. acuformis the most prevalent strains were those which exhibited negative-cross resistance between DMIs. In both fungi such a phenomenon could be related to changes in cytochrome P450 sterol 14α-demethylase, the target site of these fungicides. For Botryotinia fuckeliana, the causal agent of grey mould, the extensive monitoring conducted in French vineyards before the marketing of fenhexamid revealed the presence of highly resistant strains to this promising botryticide (only in tests involving mycelial growth measurements). Negative cross-resistance to edifenphos and several sterol biosynthesis inhibitors, such as prochloraz and fenpropimorph, was observed in fenhexamid resistant strains. Synergism of the antifungal action of fenhexamid by cytochrome P450 inhibitors, such as the DMI fungicides, was only recorded in fenhexamid resistant strains. These data and those previously obtained with edifenphos resistant strains of Magnaporthe grisea (rice blast pathogen) suggest that in fenhexamid resistant strains of B. fuckeliana the same cytochrome P450 monooxygenase could be involved in detoxification of fenhexamid and activation of edifenphos. Received 6 September 1999/ Accepted in revised form 13 September 1999     

Strains of Botrytis cinerea resistant to dicarboximide and benzimidazole fungicides in New Zealand vineyards

In a survey of New Zealand vineyards at harvest 1985, isolates of Botrytis cinerea resistant to benzimidazole and to dicarboximide fungicides were common. The mean frequency of resistance in the major vine-growing districts ranged from 8 to 41% for benzimidazoles, and from 51 to 59% for dicarboximides. All benzimidazole-resistant isolates showed high levels of resistance (EC50 greater than 100 mg/l carbendazim based on radial growth response), and all dicarboximide-resistant isolates showed low levels of resistance. Two subgroups of dicarboximide-resistant isolates were recognized, distinguished in the first instance by their osmotic response. Low-level resistant isolates, which formed a dense margin on osmotically amended medium, exhibited an EC50 for mycelial growth on iprodione of c. 3-2 mg/l; ultra-low-level resistant isolates, which formed a fibrillose margin on osmotically amended medium identical to that of sensitive isolates, exhibited an EC50 of c. 1-3 mg/1. In agar culture, radial growth rate, and conidial and sclerotial production of both subgroups were similar to those of sensitive isolates. Virulence (lesion size) and conidial production on grape berries were highest in sensitive isolates, intermediate in ultra-low-level dicarboximide-resistant isolates, and lowest in low-level dicarboximide-resistant isolates. Evidence is presented indicating that ultra-low-level dicarboximide-resistant strains have progressively replaced low-level dicarboximide-resistant strains in the vineyard population. The presence of dicarboximide-resistant strains was linked with a partial loss of fungicide efficacy.     

Fungicide control of mushroom cobweb disease caused by Cladobotryum strains with different benzimidazole resistance profiles

The benzimidazole fungicides thiabendazole and carbendazim, and the imidazole fungicide prochloraz-Mn, were tested for their efficacy in controlling cobweb disease of mushrooms caused by two Cladobotryum isolates. Isolate 202A was benzimidazole-sensitive in vitro and cobweb growth on the casing was well controlled by both benzimidazole fungicides in cropping experiments. Carbendazim also controlled the development of spotting symptoms much more effectively than thiabendazole. A second isolate (192B1) was benzimidazole-resistant and was highly resistant to thiabendazole in vitro but it showed some sensitivity to carbendazim in vitro at moderate to high concentrations. Despite this, carbendazim did not control disease symptoms in cropping experiments, confirming that isolate 192B1 is cross-resistant to other benzimidazole fungicides. Both isolates showed some sensitivity to prochloraz-Mn in vitro. This fungicide gave between 45% and 65% control of cobweb growth on the casing caused by either 202A or 192B1 but gave no control of spotting symptoms. Reducing the fungicide application volume did not give enhanced disease control. The emergence of benzimidazole resistance reduces the value of benzimidazoles in the control of mushroom pathogens. However, the lack of effective alternatives means they continue to have utility in cases where pathogens are still sensitive but this requires regular monitoring of pathogen populations for resistance.     

8种杀菌剂对核桃炭疽病病原菌胶孢炭疽菌的室内毒力

由胶孢炭疽菌Colletotrichum gloeosporioides引起的核桃炭疽病是目前危害山东省核桃生产的主要病害。为筛选防治该病害的高效药剂,在确定了最适菌丝生长和分生孢子萌发温度的基础上,采用菌丝生长速率法和孢子萌发法,测定了8种常用杀菌剂对胶孢炭疽菌的毒力,评估了温度对咪鲜胺和戊唑醇毒力的影响,检测了17个胶孢炭疽菌菌株对咪鲜胺和戊唑醇的敏感性,同时评价了这2种杀菌剂的预防和治疗作用。结果显示:在胶孢炭疽菌菌丝生长和孢子萌发的最适温度28℃下,供试8种杀菌剂中,咪鲜胺、戊唑醇和三唑酮对供试菌株菌丝生长的抑制作用最强,平均EC50值分别为0.07、1.45和3.04 mg/L;异菌脲、代森锰锌和咪鲜胺对分生孢子萌发的抑制作用最强,平均EC50值分别为21.07、25.14和25.18 mg/L。咪鲜胺对菌丝生长的抑制作用受温度影响较小,而戊唑醇对菌丝生长的抑制作用随温度降低而增强;供试17个菌株对咪鲜胺和戊唑醇均有较高敏感性,平均EC50值分别为0.08 和 1.03 mg/L。建议在核桃炭疽病发病的不同时期,轮换使用咪鲜胺、戊唑醇、三唑酮、异菌脲和代森锰锌等杀菌剂,以有效控制该病害。     

2018年我国小麦赤霉病菌对多菌灵抗性检测

以多菌灵为主的苯并咪唑类杀菌剂一直是小麦抽穗扬花期防控赤霉病的主要手段之一。本研究对2018年我国主要麦区采集的1 464株赤霉病菌菌株进行多菌灵抗性分子检测。共检测出多菌灵抗性菌株97株,抗性频率为6.63%,同时发现抗性菌株以F167Y突变频率最高,其次为E198Q和F200Y。通过比较不同省份间多菌灵抗性发生频率发现,长江中下游麦区赤霉病菌群体抗性频率明显高于黄淮麦区群体。本研究相比之前研究中的抗性频率大幅度上升,表明在多菌灵的选择压力下,多菌灵抗性种群发展迅速。为防止抗性群体的进一步发展,致使多菌灵防治赤霉病失效,应采用混配、复配药剂、不同作用机理的杀菌剂交替轮换使用来防治小麦赤霉病。     

Phenotype Instability in Botrytis cinerea in the Absence of Benzimidazole and Dicarboximide Fungicides

ABSTRACT Stability of phenotypes of isolates of Botrytis cinerea that were sensitive or resistant to benzimidazole and dicarboximide fungicides was examined in the absence of fungicides in laboratory and growth room experiments. Twelve greenhouse isolates of B. cinerea were subcultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for 20 generations and on geranium seedlings for 15 generations. Three isolates of each of the following four phenotypes were used: sensitive to the fungicides thiophanate-methy1 (a benzimidazole) and vinclozolin (a dicarboximide) (S(T)S(V)), resistant to both fungicides (R(T)R(V)), resistant to thiophanate-methy1 and sensitive to vinclozolin (R(T)S(V)), and sensitive to thiophanate-methy1 and resistant to vinclozolin (S(T)R(V)). In three trials on PDA, 36 populations were subcultured; 8 populations changed phenotypes by the end of 20 generations, as determined by conidium germination on fungicide-amended medium. Five of the eight initially were S(T)R(V); the resulting phenotypes were S(T)S(V), R(T)S(V), and R(T)R(V). Populations from eight other isolates exhibited temporary changes in phenotype during intermediate generations on PDA but reverted to initial phenotypes by the twentieth generation; five of these populations changed to phenotype R(T)R(V). In two geranium seedling trials, each of the 12 greenhouse isolates was inoculated onto a set of three seedlings for each generation, and diseased tissue that developed was used to initiate the next generation. Therefore, a total of 72 populations of B. cinerea were subcultured in the two trials; 5 of these populations changed phenotype at the end of 15 generations. Three of the five initially were S(T)R(V); these changed to phenotypes S(T)S(V) or R(T)R(V). In each of the two trials on geranium seedlings, a population subcultured from one S(T)S(V) isolate changed phenotype one to phenotype R(T)R(V) and one to phenotype R(T)S(V). In all trials, no population resistant to thiophanate-methy1 changed to a thiophanate-methy1-sensitive phenotype, and no population changed to phenotype S(T)R(V). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints were generated with the 12 initial isolates and 49 isolates subcultured on PDA or geranium seedlings. Cluster analyses of RAPD markers showed that subcultured isolates exhibiting the same phenotype clustered together and that subcultured isolates derived from a common greenhouse isolate but with different phenotypes were in different clusters. Some populations that did not change phenotype exhibited considerable differences in RAPD marker patterns. The results of this study indicate that, in the absence of fungicides, sensitive populations of B. cinerea can develop resistance to thiophanate-methy1 and vinclozolin, and this resistance can be maintained in populations through multiple generations. Populations resistant only to vinclozolin (S(T)R(V)) exhibited a high frequency of phenotype change, and populations resistant to both fungicides (R(T)R(V)) were stable.     

Properties of dicarboximide-resistant strains of Botrytis cinerea

Dicarboximide-resistant strains of Botrytis cinerea were isolated from natural substrates and also produced in the laboratory. All these strains exhibited a similar degree of resistance to the dicarboximide fungicides iprodione and vinclozolin, and this resistance persisted in the absence of the fungicides. The natural frequency of resistance to both chemicals was approximately three in 10⁷ conidia but could be enhanced by up to 1000 times after a single exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of either chemical. Mycelium of the resistant strains was able to infect fruit and vegetables to a similar extent as that of sensitive strains, although infection of carrot roots was markedly less aggressive. The resistant strains were separable into two groups according to their growth habit on culture media. Both groups were relatively slow growing and showed a marked lack of sporulation compared with most sensitive strains. This lack of sporulation may account for the apparent failure of resistant strains to increase rapidly in strawberry plantations that had received dicarboximide sprays in successive seasons.     

In vitro selection of sterol-biosynthesis-inhibitor (SBI)-resistant mutants in Monilinia fructicola (Wint.) Honey

The inherent resistance risk forMonilinia fructicola against sterol-biosynthesis inhibitors (SBIs) was estimated inin vitro andin vivo laboratory studies. Several mutant strains were selected on media amended with the triazole fungicides penconazole, etaconazole or the morpholine fungicide fenpropimorph.The potential forM. fructicola to develop resistance to the triazoles or to the morpholines was similar.The level of resistance attained did not differ for the two classes of fungicides after a single cycle of treatment with nitrosoguanidine (NTG). Attemps to select mutants with a higher level of resistance to penconazole after successive mutagenic treatments were successful. Most of the mutants were less fit than wild-type strains. Mutants with a low level of resistance had an almost normal mycelial growth rate, whereas growth of mutants with a higher level of resistance was significantly reduced. Spore production was highest in the wild-type strains, similar to the latter in a few resistant strains and less in most others. Only one mutant with an intermediate level of resistance could successfully compete in a mixed population with a wild type strain during successive infection cycles on peaches. Resistance was not stable in highly resistant mutants. Cross resistance to the inhibitors of 14-methylsterol demethylation (DMIs) tested was confirmedin vitro andin vivo for all mutant strains. One DMI-resistant mutant was also resistant to fenpropimorph and two fenpropimorph-resistant mutants were resistant to penconazole.     

Effets de divers herbicides sur la croissance mycélienne de souches de Botrytis cinerea pers et de Penicillium expansum Link, sensibles ou résistantes à certains fongicides

Effects of various herbicides on mycelial growth of strains of Botrytis cinerea. Pers. and Pénicillium expansum Link, sensitive or resistant to certain fungicides Of seventy herbicides tested, thirty-eight were slightly toxic to B. cinerea (CI50, concentration giving 50% inhibition of the speed of mycelial growth, exceeding or equal to 100g of herbicide/ml of nutrient solution) and, of those, ten had no effect even at 1000 g/ml. The most active products (CI50 less than 10 g/ml) were Chlorthiamid, dichlobénil, nitrofen, propyzamide and phenolic derivatives (DNOC, ioxynil, PCP). In most cases P. expansum was less sensitive than B. cinerea except to endothal, propachlor, prynachlor and certain substituted ureas. Strains resistant to the benzimidazole fungicides (carbendazim, thiabendazole etc.) show increased sensitivity to certain carbamade herbicides (barban, chlorbufam etc.), this indicates the existence of a negative cross resistance between these groups of antimitotic pesticides. Strains resistant to the cyclic-imide fungicides (iprodionc, procymidone, vinclozolin) and to various aromatic compounds (biphenyl. chloroneb, dicloran etc.) may also be resistant to bipyridilium, dinitroanilinc and diphenylethcr herbicides, to chlorthamid. dichlobénil and oxadiazon. This cross resistance between pesticides with different biochemical modes of action has yet to be explained.     

Distribution of benzimidazole-resistant strains of the onion gray-mold neck rot pathogens,Botrytis aclada and Botrytis allii,in Hokkaido,Japan

Botrytis aclada and Botrytis allii, associated with onion gray-mold neck rot and isolated in Hokkaido, were tested for sensitivity to benzimidazole. Of the B. aclada strains, 59% were highly resistant and the remaining 41% were sensitive; all strains of B. allii were sensitive. Resistant strains were widespread in Hokkaido. We analyzed the sequences of the β-tubulin gene of resistant strains and detected the replacement of glutamic acid (GAG) by lysine (AAG) at codon 198. This is the first report of benzimidazole resistance in B. aclada. This study revealed a difference in fungicide sensitivity between the two Botrytis species.

     

Identification of a novel point mutation in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-tubulin gene of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Botrytis cinerea</Emphasis> and detection of benzimidazole resistance by a diagnostic PCR-RFLP assay

The molecular basis of resistance to benzimidazole fungicides with laboratory and field mutant isolates of Botrytis cinerea was investigated. After chemical mutagenesis with N-methyl-N-nitrosogouanidine (NMNG) two different benzimidazole-resistant phenotypes were isolated on media containing carbendazim or a mixture of carbendazim and diethofencarb. The mutant isolates from the fungicide-mixture-containing medium were moderately resistant to carbendazim with wild-type tolerance to diethofencarb while mutant isolates from carbendazim-containing medium were highly resistant to carbendazim but sensitive to diethofencarb. The studied field isolates were highly resistant to benzimidazoles and sensitive to diethofencarb. Study of fitness characteristics of benzimidazole highly-resistant isolates showed that the resistance mutation(s) had no apparent effect on fitness-determining parameters. Contrary to this, the moderately benzimidazole-resistant strains, with no increased diethofencarb sensitivity, had a significant reduction in certain ecological fitness-determining characteristics. Analysis of the sequence of the β-tubulin gene revealed two amino acid replacements in the highly benzimidazole-resistant mutants compared to that of the wild-type parent strain. One was the glutamic acid (GAG) to alanine (GCG) change at position 198 (E198A), identified in both laboratory and field highly benzimidazole-resistant isolates, a mutation previously implicated in benzimidazole resistance. The second was a novel benzimidazole resistance mutation of glutamic acid (GAG) to glycine (GGG) substitution at the same position 198 (E198G), identified in a highly benzimidazole-resistant laboratory mutant strain. Molecular analysis of the moderately benzimidazole-resistant strains revealed no mutations at the β-tubulin gene. A novel diagnostic PCR-RFLP assay utilising a BsaI restriction site present in the benzimidazole-sensitive (E198) but absent in both resistant genotypes (E198G and E198A) was developed for the detection of both amino acid replacements at the β-tubulin gene.     

Effects of thiophanate-methyl and azoxystrobin on the composition of Cercospora kikuchii populations with thiophanate-methyl-resistant strains

Azoxystrobin was recently registered in Japan for the control of purple seed stain of soybean caused by Cercospora kikuchii, because the pathogen has developed resistance to thiophanate-methyl. To investigate the effects of these fungicides on the frequency of C. kikuchii strains resistant to thiophanate-methyl and on the genotype structure of the population, we sowed purple-stained seeds, approximately 40% of which were infected with resistant strains, as inocula with asymptomatic seeds and applied thiophanate-methyl and azoxystrobin during the reproductive growth of soybeans. The isolation frequency of resistant strains increased more than 99% by thiophanate-methyl but was not significantly increased by azoxystrobin. In amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) DNA fingerprinting, genotypic diversity was significantly decreased by thiophanate-methyl but was not affected by azoxystrobin. In addition, the similarity of the AFLP genotype structure was increased by thiophanate-methyl but not by azoxystrobin. These results suggest that thiophanate-methyl selectively inhibited the proliferation of sensitive strains, which resulted in a small number of genotypes, most of which were resistant strains. Azoxystrobin was found to nonselectively inhibit proliferation of the pathogen, which retained a large number of genotypes including thiophanate-methyl-sensitive or thiophanate-methyl-resistant strains or both. The nucleotide sequence data for the cytochrome b gene are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number AB231863.     

A High Multi-drug Resistance to Chemically Unrelated Oomycete Fungicides in Phytophthora infestans

Mutants of Phytophthora infestans with high resistance to the amidocarbamates iprovalicarb and benthiavalicarb and to the cyanoimidazole cyazofamid were isolated after UV-mutagenesis and selection on media containing one of the above fungicides. In vitro fungitoxicity tests showed that all resistant strains presented a highly reduced sensitivity to both cyazofamid and to the amidocarbamates. Cross-resistance studies with other oomycete fungicides from different chemical groups showed that the mutation(s) for resistance to iprovalicarb (IPV), benthiavalicarb (BVC) and cyazofamid (CZF) also greatly reduced the sensitivity of mutant strains to the phenylamide metalaxyl, acetamide cymoxanil, morpholine dimethomorph, benzamide zoxamide and to chlorothalonil. A lower reduction of sensitivity of mutant strains to the strobilurins azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl, pyraclostrobin and trifloxystrobin, azolones famoxadone and fenamidone and to antimycin A was observed. A resistance correlation was not apparent for the dithiocarbamate propineb and phenylpyridinamine fluazinam. Studies of fitness parameters in the wild-type and mutant strains of P. infestans showed that most resistant isolates had significantly reduced sporulation and sporangial germination, but not in the differentiation of sporangia into zoospores. Pathogenicity tests on tomato seedlings showed that most resistant isolates were significantly less pathogenic compared to the wild-type parent strain. However, experiments on the stability of the resistant phenotypes did not show a reduction in resistance when the mutants were grown for more than eleven generations on inhibitor-free medium. This is believed to be the first report of high level multi-drug resistance in fungal pathogens to chemically unrelated fungicides inhibiting different sites of cellular pathway.     

Carbendazim resistance in the eyespot pathogen Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides

Mycelial isolates (115) of Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides were obtained from five field sites in England. Carbendazim-resistant isolates were detected by their mycelial growth on agar containing 1 μg/ml carbendazim. Resistant isolates were found at two of the five sites examined and one of these had never been treated with benzimidazole fungicides. Amongst the carbendazim- resistant isolates there was a predominance of isolates with pale mycelium, an irregular colony margin and a relatively slow growth rate; however, this association was not absolute. Large differences in the effects of carbendazim on mycelial growth of sensitive and resistant isolates were demonstrated; growth of sensitive isolates was completely inhibited at 0.5 μg /ml carbendazim whilst five of the six resistant isolates examined grew on agar containing 1000 μg/ml fungicide. The carbendazim-resistant isolates were cross-resistant to benomyl, thiophanate-methyl and to a Icsser degree thiabendazole, but not to prochloraz. Conidia of carbendazim-resistant isolates were as resistant. Carbendazim-resistant isolates were just as pathogenic to wheat as sensitive isolates. The implications of these results and other reports of benzimidazole resistance in P. herpotrichoides are discussed in relation to disease control.