THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 11 STEROL BIOSYNTHESIS-INHIBITING FUNGICIDES AGAINST THE TAKE-ALL FUNGUS, GAEUMANNOMYCES-GRAMINIS VAR TRITICI, IN RELATION TO THEIR PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES

Eleven sterol biosynthesis‐inhibiting fungicides were compared in experiments to determine the physico‐chemical properties required for most effective control of take‐all by soil treatment. All were active in agar culture against an isolate of the pathogen which causes take‐all, Gaeumannomyces grammis var. tritici, with prochloraz being the most toxic (EC50 0.02 μg ml−1) and PP 969 the least (EC50 0.44 μg ml−1). Penconazole and PP 969 had vapour activity against the fungus in further bioassays on agar. In soil in pots, the most strongly lipophilic compound, buthiobate, was ineffective against take‐all in wheat; triadimenol was most effective and, like flutriafol, nuarimol and PP 969, retained some effectiveness after 12 weeks in soil. PP 969, unlike penconazole or nuarimol, was effective in soil treated unevenly by mixing the fungicides in layers. PP 969 is relatively polar, and it is suggested that this property, allowing redistribution in soil water rather than as vapour, outweighed its poor intrinsic toxicity. The ideal soil‐treatment fungicide should therefore be polar and also have good intrinsic activity and moderate persistence. None of the compounds tested had all these properties. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd