Impact of fluazinam on morphological and physiological characteristics of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Abstract

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic and filamentous fungus with a broad host range. Fluazinam is a pyridinamine fungicide with a broad spectrum of antifungal activity and had a strong inhibition effect on mycelial growth of S. sclerotiorum populations. But the impact of fluazinam on morphological and physiological characteristics of S. sclerotiorum is little known. In this study, the EC50 values of fluazinam to three strains of S. sclerotiorum (CZ17S, YZ55S and SA42S) were 0.0084, 0.007, 0.0065 μg/ml respectively. After fluazinam treatment, hyphae of S. sclerotiorum became thinner, hyphal offshoot of top increased, the distance between one septum and another became shorter, cell membrane permeability increased markedly, exopolysaccharide (EPS) content and oxalic acid content decreased significantly, peroxidase (POD) activity increased significantly and mycelial respiration was inhibited. While the number and dry weight of sclerotia, glycerol content in the mycelia did not significantly change. In protective activity assay on detached rapeseed leaves, application of fluazinam at 40 μg/ml and 80 μg/ml, the control efficacy reached to 41.4% and 100%, respectively. In curative activity assay, application of fluazinam at 100 μg/ml, the control efficacy reached to 61.09%. In the same concentration, protective activity of fluazinam against S. sclerotiorum was higher than curative activity. These results will contribute to us on evaluating the potential of the fungicide fluazinam for management of Sclerotinia stem rot and understanding the mode of action of fluazinam against S. sclerotiorum.