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Baseline Sensitivities of Fungal Pathogens of Fruit and Foliage of Citrus to Azoxystrobin, Pyraclostrobin, and Fenbuconazole

The baseline sensitivities for mycelial growth of foliar fungal pathogens of citrus, Colletotrichum acutatum, Alternaria alternata, Elsinoe fawcettii, Diaporthe citri, and Mycosphaerella citri, the causal agents of postbloom fruit drop, brown spot of tangerine, citrus scab, melanose, and greasy spot, respectively, were determined in vitro for azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, and fenbuconazole. The effective dose to reduce growth by 50% (ED₅₀ values) was determined for each pathogen-fungicide combination using five isolates from different citrus areas of Florida and eight fungicide concentrations. A discriminatory dose for each combination was selected near the ED₅₀, and the range of sensitivity of 50 to 62 isolates of each fungal species was determined. The effect of salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM) on the sensitivity of the five fungal species to azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin was determined. Since mycelial growth of A. alternata was insensitive to azoxystrobin, the effect of that fungicide with and without SHAM on spore germination was assessed. The ED₅₀ values for most fungal pathogens of citrus were relatively high compared with foliar pathogens of other tree crops. Values for azoxystrobin ranged from a low of 0.06 μg/ml with E. fawcettii to a high of >100 μg/ml with A. alternata. With pyraclostrobin, the values ranged from a low of 0.019 μg/ml with D. citri to a high of 0.87 μg/ml with A. alternata. With fenbuconazole, the lowest ED₅₀ value was 0.21 μg/ml with M. citri and the highest was 1.01 μg/ml with C. acutatum, but A. alternata and D. citri were not tested. SHAM was inhibitory to all species and reduced growth of D. citri greatly. Inclusion of SHAM in the medium did not greatly affect the sensitivity of mycelial growth of these fungi to azoxystrobin or pyraclostrobin, nor did it affect the ED₅₀ values for conidial germination of A. alternata. The coefficients of variation for the sensitivity of 50 to 62 isolates of each species to these fungi ranged from 7.3% with the pyraclostrobin-C. acutatum combination to a high of 55.0% with the fenbuconazole- M. citri combination. Discriminatory doses have been established for these pathogen- fungicide combinations that should be useful for detecting major shifts in fungicide sensitivity.