PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF STROBILURIN FUNGICIDES ON PLANTS

Resumen

The interference of plant diseases results in significant losses in the productivity and quality of products obtained. This situation is growing and progressing due to plant breeding aimed at increasing productivity, and the increase of agricultural borders, thus providing food that is more susceptivel to phytopathogens during all seasons of the year. As a result of this action of microorganisms, man is obligated to take steps to neutralize this negative effect, combining other available techniques with the fungicides. Until recently, the fungicides focused on control of phytopathogens with the sole purpose of reducing inoculum. After the launching of strobilurins, and with the evolution of this group of chemical products, the concept of disease control gained new perspectives, especially when considering the advantages obtained by the action of positive physiological effects on these plants. During the last decade of intense research on the fungicidal properties of strobilurins, the evidences of their direct influence in physiological processes of plants not infected or threatened by pathogens were strengthened. This activity was named “physiological effect”. The physiological effects of pyraclostrobin, a new molecule of strobilurin, were reviewed under several levels of complexity, from the greening effect frequently mentioned and the enhancement of stress factors in field and under controlled conditions, to the influence of hormonal regulation and assimilation of carbon and nitrogen by the plant.

Key words: pyraclostrobin, F500, physiological effects, chemical control