Field effectiveness and biodegradation of cyclic imides in lettuce field soils

Biocontrol of Lettuce Drop Caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and S. minor in Desert Agroecosystems

Field experiments were conducted over 2 years in Yuma County, AZ, and Imperial County, CA, to determine the efficacy of several biocontrol agents for the management of lettuce drop caused by Sclerotinia spp. Commercial formulations of Trichoderma harzianum (Plantshield, Supersivit), Gliocladium virens (Soilgard), Coniothyrium minitans (Contans), and Bacillus subtilis (Companion) were evaluated and compared with the chemical fungicide iprodione (Rovral) against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and S. minor. A single application of biocontrol products or of Rovral did not reduce lettuce drop caused by either Sclerotinia species. However, two applications of Contans, one at planting and one at post-thinning, significantly reduced the incidence of lettuce drop caused by S. sclerotiorum and increased yield but had no effect on S. minor at both locations in both years. Two applications of other biocontrol products did not significantly reduce disease incidence despite medium to high recovery following application. In contrast, Contans was only sporadically recovered following application. In vitro fungicide sensitivity evaluation revealed that both Trichoderma and Gliocladium species were tolerant to iprodione, dicloran (Botran), and vinclozolin (Ronilan) up to 1,000 ppm a.i., whereas both Sclerotinia spp. and C. minitans were sensitive to all three fungicides above 1 ppm. In summary, Contans was the most effective treatment for the control of lettuce drop caused by S. sclerotiorum, but no treatment was effective against S. minor in the desert lettuce production systems.

Development and Significance of Dicarboximide Resistance in Sclerotinia minor Isolates from Commercial Lettuce Fields in California

Three growth stages of each of 20 Sclerotinia minor isolates were tested for resistance to iprodione. Sclerotia and both vegetative and mature mycelium of each isolate were plated on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) amended with 0, 1, 5, 10, 25, and 100 µg of the fungicide per ml, and radial growth was measured. All wild-type field isolates were initially sensitive and did not grow in the presence of iprodione. However, fungicide resistance arose readily in vitro. All 20 isolates produced measurable growth (≥2 mm) on iprodione at 5 µg/ml after 2 weeks when started from mature mycelium, and 18 of 20 isolates produced measurable growth after 4 weeks when started from vegetative mycelium. In general, fungicide-resistant growth arose more frequently and mean colony diameters were significantly greater (P ≤ 0.05) with mature mycelium than with vegetative mycelium at all times and concentrations. In sclerotial germination tests, at least 1% of sclerotia germinated in 18 of 20 isolates after 2 weeks on iprodione at 5 µg/ml, and in 19 of 20 isolates after 5 weeks on 100 µg/ml. Of growth produced on 79 plates containing iprodione, 73 remained viable on PDA after 5 months, and 71 retained resistance to 5 µg/ml. Seventy of these also exhibited cross-resistance to vinclozolin, another dicarboximide fungicide. Pathogenicity of five fungicide-resistant strains was tested in greenhouse, microplot, and field experiments, with and without iprodione. Two months after in vitro production, one of the five resistant strains was avirulent, but disease incidence for the other four ranged from 40 to 75%, compared with 40% for the wild-type isolates. However, the virulence of the fungicide-resistant strains declined over time. Ten months after their production, two of the isolates were avirulent and disease incidence for the others ranged from 3 to 17%, compared with 40 to 90% for the wild-type isolates. The strains that remained virulent 5 and 7 months after in vitro production were not significantly controlled by iprodione sprayed according to labeled rates, although disease was significantly controlled by the fungicide in treatments inoculated with wild-type field isolates (P > 0.05). In experiments in commercial fields to determine the efficacy of fungicide sprays on the wild-type S. minor population, there was no evidence that fungicide resistance was the cause of lack of lettuce drop control observed in many coastal California fields. Application of fungicides at a less than optimal time may account for some incidents of control failure.