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The fungicide pyrimethanil: An overview of the current status, environmental fate and toxicological studies

Fungicides: Perspectives, Resistance Management and Risk Assessment (Chemical Engineering Methods and Technology series)

Cristina A. Viegas2018Nova Science Publishers Inc.

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Published in

03/15/2018

Abstract

Pyrimethanil is an anilinopyrimidine fungicide which is used mainly against the gray mold Botrytis cinerea in vineyards but also to control blue and green molds (Penicillium spp.) and apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) in diverse horticultural crops and ornamentals. When good agricultural practices or fungicide recommended doses are not respected, pyrimethanil residues may remain in grapes as well as in wine due to persistency during winemaking. On the other hand, pyrimethanil and/or multidrug resistance in field strains of B. cinerea and other phytopathogenic fungi have evolved at alarming rates. On the environmental context, pyrimethanil has been pointed out as a potential contaminant of surface water and sediments in aquatic compartments. Even though it is generally considered as having low to moderate ecotoxicity, a number of authors have raised concerns regarding its potential hazardous effects over ecosystem and human health. Pyrimethanil’s environmental risk may possibly increase when it is mixed with other currently used pesticides or in worst-case-scenarios of accidental spills and/or situations of careless storage, mixing/loading or disposal. This chapter provides an overview of the current status of pyrimethanil with respect to agricultural application as well as its’ environmental fate and ecological risk for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including humans. Current knowledge on the fate of pyrimethanil on wine grapes and possible consequences for wine yeasts and the winemaking process will be also addressed. In addition, novel mechanistic insights obtained from recently published transcription profiling studies of the response to deleterious effects of this fungicide in a unicellular fungal model, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, will be summed up. Potential relevance of these studies for wine yeasts, target-fungi and other relevant non-target eukaryotes will be discussed in both (eco)toxicological and fungicide resistance contexts.

Publication details

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Publisher

Nova Science Publishers Inc.

Title of the publication container

Fungicides: Perspectives, Resistance Management and Risk Assessment (Chemical Engineering Methods and Technology series)

First page or article number

71

Last page

71

ISBN

978-1-53613-308-0

Fields of Science and Technology (FOS)

biological-sciences - Biological sciences

Publication language (ISO code)

eng - English

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