Resistance assessment for SYP‐14288 in Phytophthora capsici and changes in mitochondria electric potential‐associated respiration and ATP production confers resistance

Phytophthora capsici is a destructive plant oomycete pathogen that could lead to devastating losses in food production. Fungicide application is the main way to control plant disease caused by P. capsici. SYP-14288, a novel fungicide with a unique mode of action, could be used to control a broad range of plant diseases. Here, the potential for SYP-14288 resistance in P. capsici and the resistance mechanism involved were evaluated. Baseline sensitivities of 133 isolates to SYP-14288 were determined and found to conform to a unimodal curve with a mean half-maximal effective concentration (EC50 ) of 0.625 μg mL-1 . In total, 21 stable SYP-14288-resistant mutants were generated by fungicide adaptation in three sensitive isolates. The fitness of all the mutants was found to be lower than that of the parental isolates. Otherwise, downregulation of various ATPases may confer different resistance levels in P. capsici. Finally, multiple biochemical studies strongly suggest that both ATP content and electric potential were reduced in SYP-14288-resistant mutants, and as a compensatory mechanism, respiration was facilitated to make up for the energy defect in mutants. The low fitness of SYP-14288-resistant mutants suggests that the resistance risk of P. capsici to SYP-14288 is low. Resistance may be led by a permeability change in the mitochondrial inner membrane in SYP-14288-resistant isolates, and lower ATP consumption lifestyles may be key to the SYP-14288 resistance generated in P. capsici. The current study could benefit the registration and application of the novel fungicide SYP-14288. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.