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Sensitivity of Botrytis squamosa to Different Classes of Fungicides

An automated quantitative (AQ) assay was compared with radial growth on solid media and with dry weight in liquid culture for assaying fungicide sensitivity in Botrytis squamosa, the causal agent of onion leaf blight. Five isolates of B. squamosa were assayed for sensitivity to mancozeb (Dithane DG) and iprodione (Rovral) at five concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, and 50 ppm). For mancozeb, the correlations between 50% effective concentration (EC₅₀) values obtained with the three assays were not significant; however for iprodione, correlations between EC₅₀ values for AQ and radial growth and for AQ and dry weight were significant (r = 0.98 and 0.99, respectively). The AQ method was less time consuming and more reliable than the two standard assays. The AQ method was used to evaluate the sensitivity of 35 field isolates of B. squamosa to mancozeb (Dithane DG), iprodione (Rovral), vinclozolin (Ronilan DF), and chlorothalonil (Bravo 500). All isolates were sensitive to mancozeb (EC₅₀ ranged from 3.36 to 12.97) and chlorothalonil (EC₅₀ < 1.5 μg/ml), but four isolates were insensitive to both iprodione (EC₅₀ ≥ 3.98 μg/ml) and vinclozolin (EC₅₀ ≥ 17.49 μg/ml). The ratio of the EC₅₀ values of the least-sensitive and the most-sensitive isolates of B. squamosa was 1.08, 3.86, 6.98, and 37.59 for chlorothalonil, mancozeb, iprodione, and vinclozolin, respectively. Cross-resistance was observed for the two dicarboximide fungicides, iprodione and vinclozolin, with a significant correlation (r = 0.94) in the sensitivity of the 35 isolates to these two fungicides.