Surfactants in plant disease management: A brief review and case studies

In plant disease management, surfactants are generally used in combination with pesticides to facilitate delivery of the pesticide chemicals to the target sites in plants, vectors, or pathogens. Their intended use is rarely for direct effect on plant pathogens. However, trends in recent studies have revealed an appreciable increase in their use for direct management of plant diseases. In this paper, we briefly review the progress made in the use of surfactants for disease management, as adjuvants and when applied for direct effect. We carried out experiments to evaluate the effect of selected synthetic surfactants (Cohere, Kinetic, Silwet-77, and Induce) on powdery mildew in squash and bacterial spot in tomato. Results from this study showed that the effect of surfactants on these pathogens is dependent on the type of plant pathogen or disease. All tested surfactants exhibited in vitro bactericidal activity against Xanthomonas perforans, a causal pathogen of bacterial spot of tomato. In the greenhouse, Cohere significantly reduced disease severity of powdery mildew in squash compared to the untreated control. Cohere also showed promise in field trials against bacterial spot of tomato, but the other surfactants tested promoted this disease. Our studies demonstrate the importance of evaluating surfactants for their use in management of plant diseases both for direct effect and as adjuvants in tank mix.