Preventing multi-resistance: New insights for managing fungal adaptation.

Sustainable crop protection is vital for food security, yet it is under threat due to the adaptation of a diverse and evolving pathogen population. Resistance can be managed by maximising the diversity of selection pressure through dose variation and the spatial and temporal combination of active ingredients. This study explores the interplay between operational drivers for maximising the sustainability of management strategies in relation to the resistance status of fungal populations.

Antifungal alternation can be beneficial for durability but at the cost of generalist resistance.

The evolution of resistance to pesticides is a major burden in agriculture. Resistance management involves maximizing selection pressure heterogeneity, particularly by combining active ingredients with different modes of action. We tested the hypothesis that alternation may delay the build-up of resistance not only by spreading selection pressure over longer periods, but also by decreasing the rate of evolution of resistance to alternated fungicides, by applying an experimental evolution approach to the economically important crop pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici.

Are Efficient-Dose Mixtures a Solution to Reduce Fungicide Load and Delay Evolution of Resistance? An Experimental Evolutionary Approach.

Pesticide resistance poses a critical threat to agriculture, human health and biodiversity. Mixtures of fungicides are recommended and widely used in resistance management strategies. However, the components of the efficiency of such mixtures remain unclear.