Activity of a novel strobilurin fungicide benzothiostrobin against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Benzothiostrobin is a novel strobilurin fungicide. In this study, baseline sensitivity of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary to benzothiostrobin was determined using 100 strains collected during 2012 and 2013 from different geographical regions in Jiangsu Province of China, and the average EC50 value was 0.0218 ( +/- 0.0111)mu g/mL for mycelial growth. After benzothiostrobin treatment, hyphae were contorted with offshoot of top increasing and cell membrane permeability increased markedly, while sclerotial production and oxalic acid content significantly decreased. Benzothiostrobin strongly inhibited mycelial respiration within 12 h and the oxygen consumption of the mycelia could not be inhibited after 24 h. On detached rapeseed leaves, the protective and curative activity test of benzothiostrobin suggested that benzothiostrobin had good control efficiency against S. sclerotiorum, and protective activity was better than curative activity. These results will contribute to us evaluating the potential of the new strobilurin fungicide benzothiostrobin for management of diseases caused by S. sclerotiorum and understanding the mode of action of benzothiostrobin against S. sclerotiorum. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.