Does fungicide application in vineyards induce resistance to medical azoles in Aspergillus species?
This study assessed if the use of sterol demethylase inhibitor fungicides in vineyard production can induce resistance to azoles in Aspergillus strains and if it can induce selection of resistant species. We also tried to identify the Aspergillus species most prevalent in the vineyards. Two vineyards from northern Portugal were selected from "Vinhos Verdes" and "Douro" regions. The vineyards were divided into plots that were treated or not with penconazole (PEN). In each vineyard, air, soil, and plant samples were collected at three different times. The strains of Aspergillus spp. were isolated and identified by morphological and molecular techniques. We identified 46 Aspergillus section Nigri, eight Aspergillus fumigatus, seven Aspergillus lentulus, four Aspergillus wentii, two Aspergillus flavus, two Aspergillus terreus, one Aspergillus calidoustus, one Aspergillus westerdijkiae, one Aspergillus tamarii, and one Eurotium amstelodami. Aspergillus strains were evaluated for their susceptibility to medical azoles used in human therapy (itraconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole) and to agricultural azoles (PEN) used in the prevention and treatment of plant diseases. The isolates showed moderate susceptibility to voriconazole. We did not observe any decrease of susceptibility to the medical azoles tested throughout the testing period in any of the treated plots, although some of the resistant species were isolated from there.
CEQUIMED-UP/Serviço de Microbiologia, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal.
Magali
M
Lago
Ana
A
Aguiar
André
A
Natário
Carla
C
Fernandes
Miguel
M
Faria
Eugénia
E
Pinto
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000383:Agriculture; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000502:physiology*; D001393:Azoles / Q000633:toxicity*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D017964:Itraconazole / Q000633:toxicity; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011174:Portugal; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000633:toxicity; D014230:Triazoles / Q000633:toxicity; D065819:Voriconazole; D014920:Wine
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D001393:Azoles; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D011743:Pyrimidines; D014230:Triazoles; D017964:Itraconazole; C087058:penconazole; C101425:posaconazole; D065819:Voriconazole