Occurrence of QoI Resistance and Detection of the G143A Mutation in Michigan Populations of Venturia inaequalis

Control strategies for Venturia inaequalis rely heavily on chemical fungicides. Single-site fungicides such as the quinone-outside inhibitors (QoI) have been used in Michigan apple orchards for more than 11 years. In 2008, we sampled eight commercial orchards in the Fruit Ridge growing region of Michigan in which apple scab control failures were observed on ‘McIntosh’ apple following applications of kresoxim-methyl or trifloxystrobin. QoI resistance was assessed in 210 total isolates (a total of 17 orchards) using a spore germination assay and in 319 isolates using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect the G143A mutation located within the V. inaequalis cytochrome b gene (CYTB). The G143A mutation is known to confer high-level QoI resistance in plant-pathogenic fungi. QoI resistance was confirmed in 50 and 64% of the isolates tested with the spore germination and PCR assays, respectively, and there was a 97% concordance observed between the assays. In 2009, we sampled and examined an additional 1,201 V. inaequalis isolates from 64 orchards in Michigan and 86 isolates from four baseline sites in Ohio. All of these isolates were assayed for the G143A mutation and it was detected within 67 and 0% of the Michigan and Ohio isolates, respectively. Our results indicate the widespread occurrence of QoI resistance in Michigan commercial orchard populations of V. inaequalis. Loss of QoI fungicides further limits the arsenal of fungicides available to commercial apple growers for successful scab management.