?Fungicidal mechanism of Arginine-based surfactants against phytopathogenic fungal spores via membrane disturbance?

MARIA E. FAIT; ROMINA F. VAZQUEZ; MATÉ, SABINA; BAKÁS, LAURA,; SUSANA MORCELLE

SM de Tucuman

Congreso; III Latin American Federation of Biophysical Societies (LAFeBS)/ IX IberoAmerican Congress of Biophysics/ XLV Reunión Anual SAB; 2016

SAB

The so-called ?green revolution? contributed to the dramatic increase of the yield and quality of certain crops (i.e. maize) due to extensive use of chemical pesticides, which minimized the effect of animal pests, weeds and pathogens. However, human activities during the last century strongly altered the environment and ecosystems at a global scale, producing natural barriers disruption and redistribution of organisms, including the occurrence of pathogens in new areas. In this sense, phytopathogenic fungi have been responsible for about 30% of the emerging plant diseases. Surfactants are among the major commodities used within several industries. Amino acid-based surfactants constitute an important class of natural surface active biomolecules, which have interesting biological and biocompatible properties, such as low toxicity, high biodegradability and a minimal environmental impact. In particular, arginine-based surfactants have demonstrated remarkable antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of microorganisms, including both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. However, antifungal activity of cationic surfactants in general, and arginine type in particular, has been less investigated. The evaluation of their effect against phytopathogenic fungi has never been reported before, since biocidal properties of this kind of compounds are usually studied only against Candida albicans or other pathogenic/opportunistic yeasts.