The fungicide fludioxonil is one of the most effective single-site fungicides available for managing flower blight caused by Botrytis cinerea on fruit and ornamental crops. Although low and moderate levels of resistance to fludioxonil have been reported in the pathogen across the United States and Europe, high resistance has been reported only from greenhouses in China. In this study, two B. cinerea isolates with high resistance (half maximal effective concentration >100 µg/ml) to fludioxonil were detected on ornamental calibrachoa flowers grown in a greenhouse. These isolates exhibited stable resistance for >20 generations, produced symptoms on calibrachoa flowers sprayed with label rates of fludioxonil, and displayed in vitro fitness penalties with decreased mycelial growth (P < 0.0001) and sporulation (P < 0.0001) compared with sensitive isolates. Highly resistant isolates were identified as MDR1h, containing the ΔL/V497 deletion in mrr1. However, resistance levels and in vitro fitness parameter characteristics were not consistent with this phenotype. One isolate contained the mutation L267V between HAMP domains 1 and 2 of the Bos-1 gene, and both isolates exhibited high osmotic sensitivity and reduced glycerol accumulation in the presence of fludioxonil, indicating that high resistance of these isolates may be associated with the high-osmolarity glycerol mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.
Keywords: antimicrobial or fungicide resistance; chemical control; disease control and pest management.