Meta-analysis of yield response of hybrid field corn to foliar fungicides in the U.S. Corn Belt.

The use of foliar fungicides on field corn has increased greatly over the past 5 years in the United States in an attempt to increase yields, despite limited evidence that use of the fungicides is consistently profitable. To assess the value of using fungicides in grain corn production, random-effects meta-analyses were performed on results from foliar fungicide experiments conducted during 2002 to 2009 in 14 states across the United States to determine the mean yield response to the fungicides azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, and propiconazole + azoxystrobin. For all fungicides, the yield difference between treated and nontreated plots was highly variable among studies. All four fungicides resulted in a significant mean yield increase relative to the nontreated plots (P < 0.05). Mean yield difference was highest for propiconazole + trifloxystrobin (390 kg/ha), followed by propiconazole + azoxystrobin (331 kg/ha) and pyraclostrobin (256 kg/ha), and lowest for azoxystrobin (230 kg/ha). Baseline yield (mean yield in the nontreated plots) had a significant effect on yield for propiconazole + azoxystrobin (P < 0.05), whereas baseline foliar disease severity (mean severity in the nontreated plots) significantly affected the yield response to pyraclostrobin, propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, and propiconazole + azoxystrobin but not to azoxystrobin. Mean yield difference was generally higher in the lowest yield and higher disease severity categories than in the highest yield and lower disease categories. The probability of failing to recover the fungicide application cost (p(loss)) also was estimated for a range of grain corn prices and application costs. At the 10-year average corn grain price of $0.12/kg ($2.97/bushel) and application costs of $40 to 95/ha, p(loss) for disease severity <5% was 0.55 to 0.98 for pyraclostrobin, 0.62 to 0.93 for propiconazole + trifloxystrobin, 0.58 to 0.89 for propiconazole + azoxystrobin, and 0.91 to 0.99 for azoxystrobin. When disease severity was >5%, the corresponding probabilities were 0.36 to 95, 0.25 to 0.69, 0.25 to 0.64, and 0.37 to 0.98 for the four fungicides. In conclusion, the high p(loss) values found in most scenarios suggest that the use of these foliar fungicides is unlikely to be profitable when foliar disease severity is low and yield expectation is high.

Simulations of Fungicide Runoff Following Applications for Turfgrass Disease Control.

Computer simulations of fungicide loading in surface water runoff were conducted with fungicides commonly used in golf course fairways and lawns in Kentucky. For all fungicides, values for degradation half-life and organic carbon partition coefficient were obtained from published sources; other input parameters were selected to simulate conditions typical in local swards. Spray programs were tested using a 21-year period of weather data for Lexington, KY. Predicted amounts of fungicide in runoff were determined, and predicted fungicide concentrations in runoff (mg/liter) were compared with 50% lethal concentration (LC50) values for rainbow trout and Daphnia magna. All simulated chlorothalonil applications produced runoff with concentrations that greatly exceeded the LC50 values for both indicator species. For some applications, concentrations of azoxystrobin, iprodione, and pentachloronitrobenzene exceeded LC50 values of at least one indicator species. Under the conditions simulated, runoff concentrations of metalaxyl, propiconazole, thiophanate methyl, and triadimefon were well below LC50 values of the indicator species. Although actual amounts of fungicide loaded into runoff were relatively low, these simulations suggest that turfgrass applications of fungicides with high intrinsic toxicity to indicator species could pose a risk to populations of primary and secondary consumers in aquatic ecosystems.

Resistance to QoI (Strobilurin-like) Fungicides in Isolates of Pyricularia grisea from Perennial Ryegrass.

In August 2000, azoxystrobin was ineffective in controlling gray leaf spot of perennial ryegrass at a golf course in Lexington, KY and at two golf courses in Illinois. Isolates suspected of being fungicide-resistant ("suspect isolates") were compared to "baseline" isolates obtained from sites with no known use of quinol-oxidizing inhibitor (QoI) fungicides. Conidial germination of Pyricularia grisea was tested in vitro with 100 µg of salicylhydroxamic acid per ml. For baseline isolates, 50% effective concentration (EC50) values for azoxystrobin and trifloxystrobin were 0.015 to 0.064 and 0.013 to 0.078 µg/ml, respectively; EC50 values for suspect isolates were 2.39 to 44.8 and 0.31 to 111, respectively. All suspect isolates exhibited significantly (P = 0.05) lower sensitivity to QoI fungicides than all baseline isolates. The mean EC50 values for suspect isolates for azoxystrobin and trifloxystrobin were 690 and 827 times higher, respectively, than the means for baseline isolates. In the laboratory, azoxystrobin and trifloxystrobin provided essentially complete control of disease induced by nine baseline isolates in vivo. Azoxystrobin and trifloxystrobin provided poor to no control of disease induced by six of eight suspect isolates; control of disease induced by the remaining two isolates was partial for azoxystrobin and complete for trifloxystrobin. We conclude that one or more biotypes of perennial ryegrass-infecting strains of P. grisea with resistance to QoI fungicides have emerged. This is the first report of resistance to QoI fungicides in P. grisea. Furthermore, this is one of two QoIresistant fungal pathogens collected in the United States during the 2000 growing season, the first instances reported for North America.

Coniothyrium minitans on Apothecia of Sclerotinia trifoliorum.

During a study of apothecial dynamics of Sclerotinia trifoliorum at the University of Kentucky Spindletop Farm at Lexington, an apothecium with small black patches on the surface of the hymenium was found. The affected apothecium was incubated in a moist chamber at room temperature. After 3 days, white, cottony mycelium was observed on the surface of the hymenium; pycnidia formed in the mycelium and around the stipe of the apothecium several days later. The apothecium eventually decayed and shrunk. Pycnidia measured 168 to 520 µm (mean 311 µm). Pycnidiospores were dark brown en masse; they were ovoid to ellipsoid, measuring 3.1 to 8.2 µm (mean 6.0 µm) in length and 3.1 to 4.1 µm (mean 3.7 µm) in width, and were faintly verrucose. Fresh sclerotia of S. trifoliorum were produced in vitro and then inoculated with pycnidiospores produced on potato dextrose agar. Inoculated sclerotia were incubated in a moist chamber at room temperature. After 7 to 10 days, inoculated sclerotia shriveled and decayed, pycnidia formed on their surfaces, and the same fungus was isolated. The fungus was identified as Coniothyrium minitans Campbell. Among 58 apothecia examined in the field on 1 November, three were apparently parasitized; pycnidia developed on one of these following a 3-day incubation. Weather conditions during the preceding 2 weeks had been generally humid with above-normal temperatures (daily mean air temperature range and interquartile range were 4.0 to 20.0 and 8.9 to 16.1°C, respectively), which may have favored activity of the mycoparasite. C. minitans was reported by Campbell (1) in California on sclerotia formed in cultures of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. It causes decay of sclerotia of several Sclerotinia spp., some Botrytis spp., and Sclerotium cepivorum in soil. Consequently, it may have considerable biological control potential. It has been recorded in 29 countries and on all continents except South America (2). The fungus previously has been isolated from only sclerotia or, in a few instances, directly from soil. This is the first report on C. minitans parasitic on apothecia collected from the field. References: (1) W. A. Campbell. Mycologia 39:190, 1947. (2) C. Sandys-Winsch et al. Mycol. Res. 97:1175, 1993.

Variation Among Creeping Bentgrass Cultivars in Recovery from Epidemics of Dollar Spot.

Dollar spot was allowed to develop from natural inoculum in 15 cultivars of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) until epidemics were well established. At that time, initial disease intensities were assessed, and one-half of each plot was treated with cyproconazole at 0.3 kg a.i./ha. For each cultivar, disease intensities were assessed 6 to 14 days after treatment in both treated and untreated subplots. Three general patterns of recovery were observed: (i) significant recovery only with fungicide treatment; (ii) some recovery without treatment but greater recovery with treatment; and (iii) equal recovery with or without treatment. Only one cultivar exhibited the same recovery pattern in all 3 years; 10 of 15 cultivars exhibited the same pattern in 2 years of testing. In 1991 and 1993, nearly all cultivars tested recovered more quickly when treated with cyproconazole than when left untreated. In contrast, nearly half of the cultivars in 1992 exhibited the same level of recovery in both treated and untreated subplots. Weather conditions during the 1992 test period were cooler and wetter than during the other years of the study, which probably favored host growth and turfgrass recovery. While some cultivars exhibited partial resistance to dollar spot, no consistent association was found among creeping bentgrass cultivars between the level of partial resistance to, and recuperative ability from, dollar spot. Although the recuperative potential of cultivars varies in different environments, the ability to recover quickly from a disease outbreak could be a valuable cultivar attribute, particularly if it can sometimes occur without a curative fungicide application.