SENSITIVITY OF Venturia inaequalis CHILEAN ISOLATES TO DIFENOCONAZOLE, FENARIMOL, MANCOZEB, AND PYRIMETHANIL

Abstract

Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) is the most important disease in Chilean apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) orchards where fungicide management is the main tool to control disease. Sensitivity tests to difenoconazole, fenarimol, mancozeb, and pyrimethanil fungicides were conducted on V. inaequalis wild isolates to construct local baseline sensitivity distributions, and compare them with a collection of isolates from seven different commercial orchards with no evidence of practical resistance. In vitro assays were conducted and sensitivity was measured as inhibition of mycelial growth (difenoconazole, fenarimol, pyrimethanil) or conidial germination (mancozeb). Departure from the baseline distribution to less sensitivity was found for difenoconazole, fenarimol, and mancozeb with resistance factors of 4.7, 5.8, and 2.1, respectively. The highest difference between baseline and orchard populations was observed for fenarimol which showed the highest shift to less sensitivity. Discriminatory doses of 0.04, 1.0, 0.6, and 0.2 mu g mL(-1) are proposed for in vitro monitoring of sensitivity to difenoconazole, fenarimol, mancozeb, and pyrimethanil, respectively.