Distribution of QoI Resistance in Populations of Tangerine-Infecting Alternaria alternata in Florida

Abstract

Chemical control, based on copper and quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicides, has been essential for the management of brown spot of citrus, caused by Alternaria alternata. However, QoI control failures were detected recently in Florida. From 2008 to 2012, 817 monoconidial isolates of A. alternata from 46 citrus orchards were examined for sensitivity to azoxystrobin (AZ) and pyraclostrobin (PYR). Of the isolates, 57.6% were resistant to both fungicides, with effective concentration to inhibit 50% growth (EC50) values greater than 5 μg/ml for AZ and 1 μg/ml for PYR. The mean EC50 values for sensitive isolates were 0.139 and 0.020 μg/ml for AZ and PYR, respectively. The EC50 values of both fungicides were highly correlated (P < 0.0001), indicating cross resistance. The proportion of resistant isolates differed significantly (P < 0.0001) among cultivars and with QoI application frequency (P < 0.0001). However, resistance was not significantly related (P = 0.364) to disease severity in the field (low, moderate, and high) or isolate virulence (P = 0.397). The molecular basis for QoI resistance was determined for a subset of 235 isolates using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism of the cytochrome b gene. All resistant isolates showed the point mutation G143A. Based on the presence of one or two introns, isolates were classified as profile I and profile II, respectively. The resistance frequency was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) in isolate profile II, suggesting a higher selection pressure for resistant population profile II.