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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Urbana, Illinois » Soybean/maize Germplasm, Pathology, and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #212895
Title: Mammalian cell cytotoxicity analysis of soybean rust fungicides

Author
item DANIEL, STEVE - EASTERN ILL UNIVERSITY
item Hartman, Glen
item WAGNER, E - UNIV OF ILLINOIS
item PLEWA, M - UNIV OF ILLINOIS

Submitted to: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/21/2007
Publication Date: 11/6/2007
Citation: Daniel, S., Hartman, G.L., Wagner, E.D., Plewa, M.J. 2007. Mammalian cell cytotoxicity analysis of soybean rust fungicides. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 78(6):474-478.

Interpretive Summary: The identification of soybean rust, caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, in the United States has increased the concerns of the impact of the pathogen on U.S. soybean production. The rapid spread of P. pachyrhizi and its potential to cause severe yield losses makes this among the most destructive foliar diseases of soybean. The primary control of soybean rust has been with fungicides. In some cases, there is little known about the toxicity of these compounds. The objective of this project was to assess the toxicity of fungicides using a mammalian cell cytotoxicity assay and to compare the cytotoxicity of these fungicides to the published toxicity values of other agrichemicals. The results of this study demonstrated that the toxicity of some of these rust fungicides based on the mammalian cell cytotoxicity assay were as toxic as some other identified agrichemicals. This information is important to the chemical industry and environmental groups, and will be used by other researchers to study in more detail fungicide toxicity.

Technical Abstract: The identification of soybean rust, caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, in the United States has increased the concerns of the impact of the pathogen on U.S. soybean production. The rapid spread of P. pachyrhizi and its potential to cause severe yield losses makes this among the most destructive foliar diseases of soybean. The primary control of soybean rust has been with fungicides. Many questions remain regarding the large-scale application of these compounds to soybeans (~74 million acres in the U.S.) in the prevention and treatment of soybean rust. Indeed, there is growing concern about the use of these fungicides since little is known about the toxicity of many of these compounds and their impact on human health. Therefore, the goals of this project were to assess the toxicity of soybean rust fungicides using a mammalian cell cytotoxicity assay and to compare the cytotoxicity (%C½) of these fungicides to the published toxicity values of other agrichemicals (insecticides and herbicides). The results of this study demonstrate that a microplate-based assay can be used to quantitatively assess the toxicity of soybean rust fungicides. Moreover, the %C½ values measured for these agents may provide some insight into the potential impact that the widespread application of fungicides in response to soybean rust might have on the environment and human health. In this regard, studies are underway to measure the genotoxicity of these agriculturally important chemicals.