Morphological and chemical alterations in Botrytis cinerea exposed to the dicarboximide fungicide vinclozolin

Treatment of actively growing Botrytis cinerea hyphae with micromolar concentrations of the dicarboximide fungicide vinclozolin resulted in significant alterations in the growth rate, morphology, and chemical composition of the cells. The addition of vinclozolin resulted in an immediate and severe reduction in the hyphal growth rate and a retardation in the emergence of the second germ tube. Cells treated with vinclozolin had a lower content of pool metabolites than control cells, and this difference increased with time of exposure to the fungicide. In contrast, vinclozolin-treated cells had a higher chitin concentration than control cells. These biochemical alterations were followed by the disorganization and clearing of cells, and by the appearance of dense and dark masses outside the hyphae, presumably composed of cell debris. Hyphae exposed to vinclozolin were more curved and branched and had shorter cells than the controls. The results indicate that vinclozolin causes a slow but generalized leakage of pool metabolites; this release precedes cell lysis and is not the result of a rapid and gross damage to the cytoplasmic membrane.