Reduced sensitivity of azoxystrobin and thiophanate-methyl resistance in Lasiodiplodia theobromae from papaya.

Stem-end rot caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae is one of the most devastating diseases of papaya in northeastern Brazil. It is most effectively controlled by applications of fungicides, including site-specific fungicides at risk for resistance development. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms of reduced sensitivity to the QoI fungicide azoxystrobin and resistance to the MBC fungicide thiophanate-methyl in L. theobromae from Brazilian orchards. The EC50 values for azoxystrobin in sixty-four isolates ranged from 0.36 µg/ml to 364.24 µg/ml and the frequency distribution of EC50 values formed a multimodal curve, indicating reduced sensitivity to azoxystrobin. In detached fruit assays reduced sensitive isolates were not controlled as effectively as sensitive isolates at lowest label rate. Partial fragments were obtained from target genes ß-tubulin (751 bp) and Cytb (687 bp) of isolates resistant to thiophanate-methyl and reduced sensitivity to azoxystrobin. Sequence analysis of the ß-tubulin fragment revealed a mutation corresponding to E198K in all thiophanate-methyl-resistant isolates, while reduced sensitivity to axoxystrobin was not attributable to Cytb gene alterations. The target gene-based mechanism conferring resistance to thiophanate-methyl will likely be stable even if selection pressure subsides. However, the mechanism conferring reduced sensitivity to azoxystrobin is not based on target gene modifications and thus may not be as stable as other genotypes with mutations in Cytb gene.

Characterization of difenoconazole resistance in Lasiodiplodia theobromae from papaya in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Stem-end rot caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae is one of the most important diseases of papaya in northeastern Brazil. It can be controlled effectively by demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicides, but the occurrence of DMI resistance may decrease fungicide efficacy. RESULTS: Detached fruit studies revealed that isolates with EC50 values of 6.07 and 6.28 µg mL-1 were not controlled effectively, but reduced virulence and ability to grow at temperatures ranging from 12 to 32 °C suggesting fitness penalties were observed. Cross-resistance was observed only between difenoconazole and propiconazole. The entire cytochrome P450 sterol 14α-demethylase (LtCYP51) gene and its flanking regions were cloned. The gene was 1746 bp in length and contained three introns. The predicted protein contained 525 amino acids. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the LtCYP51 belongs to the CYP51B clade. No amino acid variation was found between sensitive and resistant isolates; however, the gene was constitutively more highly expressed in resistant isolates. CONCLUSION: Resistance to DMI fungicides in L. theobromae is based on LtCYP51 gene overexpression and fitness penalties may be present in difenoconazole-resistant isolates. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.