Fungicide Resistance In North America

Overview philosophy; International experiences; Benzimidazole fungicides; Dicarboxide e fungicides; Phenylamide fungicides; Demethylation inhibitor (DMI)fungicides; Companion fungicides; North American goals and their implementation.

"Fungicides are the primary tools used to manage plant diseases, but they are regularly rendered useless by pathogens' ability to develop resistance. The development of resistance to fungicides is arguably the greatest challenge to effectively managing plant diseases. A second obstacle in the development and application of fungicides is the constant change in the chemical landscape, as new chemicals are introduced and others are banned. Fungicide Resistance in North America, Second Edition, is a complete update of the 1988 edition. It describes the current state of fungicide development and management of fungicide resistance in primary pathogens of important agricultural and horticultural crops. Unlike other recently published books on fungicide resistance, this book focuses exclusively on the most significant resistance issues faced by agricultural producers in North America and especially the United States." --Publisher.

This volume offers a comprehensive coverage of the general principles and recent advances in fungicide resistance. It describes the development, mechanisms, monitoring, and management of resistance and covers the most important group of fungicides that have caused resistance on various crops. An historical review of fungicide resistance over the past 40 years sets the scene for up-to-date basic information on mode of action, as well as the genetics, mechanisms, and evolution of resistance. Monitoring for resistance, including the latest developments in molecular diagnostics, moves readers into the practical aspects of resistance management, which is dealt with through a series of case studies outlining fungicide-use strategies on several key crops. The chapters reflect the experience of authors internationally recognised for their significant contributions to fungicide resistance research. The majority of crop diseases are caused by fungal pathogens, and disease control relies heavily on chemically synthesized fungicides. However, modern fungicides often encounter the problem of resistance development in target pathogens. Thus pathogen resistance to fungicides is an important factor that causes loss of yield and quality of crops. It often threatens biosecurity through the decrease of fungicide efficacy in the fields. To manage fungicide resistance successfully will require the promotion of integrated disease management, involving not just chemical fungicides, but also host plant resistance, agronomic factors, and reliable biological control agents where these are available. Well referenced throughout, the book offers a comprehensive account of resistance, which will be useful as a source of material for lecturers and for both industrial and academic scientists involved in fungicide resistance research. It is also a valuable sourcebook for students.

The development of pesticide resistance in arthropod pests, plant pathogens and weeds can be viewed and studied from two contrasting perspectives. At a fundamental level, resistance provides an almost ideal example of adaptation to withstand severe environmental stress. Population geneticists, biochemists and, most recently, molecular biologists have cast considerable light on the nature of this adaptation in diverse taxonomic groups, and on factors determining its selection and spread within and between populations. Unlike most evolutionary phenomena, however, resistance is also of immediate practical and economic significance. Not only has the number of resistant species continued to increase inexorably, but there has been an alarming increase in the severity and extent of some resistance problems. Cases of organisms resisting virtually all available pesticides are by no means uncommon, and pose a formidable challenge in view of present difficulties in discovering and developing novel chemicals. Although most occurrences of resistance were initially monofactorial, resistance now frequently involves a suite of coexisting mechanisms that protect organisms against the same or different pesticide groups, and may even predispose them to resist new, as yet unused chemicals.

This book comprised of three sections that focus various aspects of fungicide usages and its consequences. In the eight-chapter first section, authors discuss implementation of Integrated Plant Disease Management on a wide array of crops grown in different parts of the world: wheat productions in Argentina and in the US; corn, cotton and Eucalyptus productions in Brazil; rice productions in India; peanut productions in the southern US; and pine seedling nurseries in Serbia. The second section is composed of two chapters that explore the possibility of natural products as fungicides. The final section discusses two interesting and important topics on the fungicide-fungus interaction that can influence the implementation of plant disease management practices, fungicide resistance and hormesis.

Pathogen resistance to fungicides has become a challenging problem in the managing of crop diseases and has threatened the performance of some highly potent commercial fungicides. Worldwide, resistance to more than one hundred different active ingredients has been reported. This book compiles information on fungicide resistance over the past three decades on the status, development, and processes involved in the build-up of resistance in pathogens to different groups of fungicides, while also suggesting various measures for managing this problem.