Multiple Mutations in SDHB and SDHC2 Subunits Confer Resistance to the Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor Cyclobutrifluram in Fusarium fujikuroi

Fusarium fujikuroi is one of the dominant phytopathogenic fungi causing rice bakanae disease worldwide. Cyclobutrifluram is a novel Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor (SDHI), which shows strong inhibitory activity against F. fujikuroi. The baseline sensitivity of 112 F. fujikuroi to cyclobutrifluram was determinated with a mean EC₅₀ value of 0.025 μg/mL. A total of 17 resistant mutants were obtained by fungicide adaptation and displayed equal or slightly weaker fitness than parental isolates, which suggests that the resistance risk of F. fujikuroi to cyclobutrifluram is medium. A positive cross-resistance was detected between cyclobutrifluram and fluopyram. The amino acid substitutions H248L/Y of FfSdhB and G80R or A83V of FfSdhC₂ conferred cyclobutrifluram resistance in F. fujikuroi, which was validated by molecular docking and protoplast transformation. The results indicate that the affinity between cyclobutrifluram and FfSdhs obviously decreased after point mutations, causing the resistance of F. fujikuroi.

Fusarium fujikuroi; cyclobutrifluram; point mutations; resistance risk; succinate dehydrogenase.