Multistate Sensitivity Monitoring of Fusarium virguliforme to the SDHI Fungicides Fluopyram and Pydiflumetofen in the United States

Ryan Hamilton; Janette L Jacobs; Austin G McCoy; Heather M Kelly; Carl A Bradley; Dean K Malvick; J Alejandro Rojas; Martin I Chilvers

doi:10.1094/PDIS-11-23-2465-RE

Multistate Sensitivity Monitoring of Fusarium virguliforme to the SDHI Fungicides Fluopyram and Pydiflumetofen in the United States

Plant Dis. 2024 May 16:PDIS11232465RE. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-11-23-2465-RE. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ryan Hamilton¹, Janette L Jacobs¹, Austin G McCoy¹, Heather M Kelly², Carl A Bradley³, Dean K Malvick⁴, J Alejandro Rojas⁵, Martin I Chilvers¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.
² Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Jackson, TN 38301.
³ Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky, Princeton, KY 42445.
⁴ Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.
⁵ Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701.

PMID: 38127633
DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-11-23-2465-RE

Abstract

Sudden death syndrome (SDS), caused by Fusarium virguliforme, is an important yield-limiting disease of soybean (Glycine max). From 1996 to 2022, cumulative yield losses attributed to SDS in North America totaled over 25 million metric tons, which was valued at over US $7.8 billion. Seed treatments are widely used to manage SDS by reducing early season soybean root infection by F. virguliforme. Fluopyram (succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor [SDHI] - FRAC 7), a fungicide seed treatment for SDS management, has been registered for use on soybean in the United States since 2014. A baseline sensitivity study conducted in 2014 evaluated 130 F. virguliforme isolates collected from five states to fluopyram in a mycelial growth inhibition assay and reported a mean EC₅₀ of 3.35 mg/liter. This baseline study provided the foundation for the objectives of this research: to detect any statistically significant change in fluopyram sensitivity over time and geographical regions within the United States and to investigate sensitivity to the fungicide pydiflumetofen. We repeated fluopyram sensitivity testing on a panel of 80 historical F. virguliforme isolates collected from 2006 to 2013 (76 of which were used in the baseline study) and conducted testing on 123 contemporary isolates collected from 2016 to 2022 from 11 states. This study estimated a mean absolute EC₅₀ of 3.95 mg/liter in isolates collected from 2006 to 2013 and a mean absolute EC₅₀ of 4.19 mg/liter in those collected in 2016 to 2022. There was no significant change in fluopyram sensitivity (P = 0.1) identified between the historical and contemporary isolates. A subset of 23 isolates, tested against pydiflumetofen under the same conditions, estimated an absolute mean EC₅₀ of 0.11 mg/liter. Moderate correlation was detected between fluopyram and pydiflumetofen sensitivity estimates (R = 0.53; P < 0.001). These findings enable future fluopyram and pydiflumetofen resistance monitoring and inform current soybean SDS management strategies in a regional and national context.

Keywords: SDS; field crops; fungicide resistance; fungicide sensitivity; seed treatments; soilborne diseases; soybean; soybean sudden death syndrome.