Sensitivity of Fusarium graminearum to tebuconazole, metconazole, and prothioconazole fungicides

Abstract

Triazole fungicides, along with cultural disease control strategies, has been a useful tool in managing Fusarium head blight (FHB) in the absence of satisfactory levels of FHB resistance in the commercial wheat varieties. Although the triazoles have been used across the world since 1990's for FHB management, there are still very few reports on resistance built-up in the pathogen population. In this study we determined the sensitivity of 254 Fusarium graminearum isolates collected from Western Canada to prothioconazole, metconazole and tebuconazole. Phenotyping for fungicide sensitivity of F. graminearum isolates revealed phenotypic variation in the population for sensitivity to the three fungicides. There was no evidence of cross-resistance between prothioconazole, metconazole and tebuconazole.