Assessment of the Sensitivity of Some Fusarium Root Rot Agents to 6-Demethyl Mevinolin, a Putative Biosensitizer

Fungicides used in agriculture contaminate the environment and promote the spreading of fungicide-resistant strains. Enhancement of pathogen sensitivity to pesticides using the so-called biosensitizers allows reducing of fungicide dosages with no negative effect on their efficiency. A microbial metabolite 6-demethylmevinolin (6-DMM) already proved its sensitizing activity in Bipolaris sorokiniana towards triazole fungicides. Using Petri dish bioassay and microplate assay combined with the probit analysis, non- or marginally toxic concentrations of this compound, which are used for sensitizing effect, were determined for four Fusarium fungi (F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. oxysporum, F. graminearum) forming a wheat root rot complex together with B. sorokiniana. The range of the determined concentrations confirmed a principal possibility to use 6-DMM as a putative sensitizer for the whole of this complex of pathogens.