Establishment of Rice Bakanae Disease Management Using Slightly Acidic Hypochlorous Acid Water

Rice bakanae is a typical seed-borne and seed-transmitted disease caused by infection by Fusarium fujikuroi. Seed disinfection using chemical fungicides (such as benomyl and prochloraz) is most effective in controlling the disease, but the emergence of fungicide-resistant strains has recently been increasing. Slightly acidic hypochlorous acid water (SAHW) is a safe and environmentally friendly disinfectant that has a potent and broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of SAHW against F. fujikuroi strains, including chemical fungicide-resistant strains, as an alternative to conventional chemical fungicides in the management of bakanae disease. SAHW showed strong but similar levels of antifungal activity among the F. fujikuroi strains with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of 5±2.5 ppm of free available chlorine (FAC). In addition, F. fujikuroi cells lost viability completely within 5 min of SAHW treatment due to the lethal damage to cell integrity. When the rice seeds infected by F. fujikuroi were treated with SAHW containing 20±10 ppm of FAC for 12 hr, the efficiencies of seed disinfection and disease control were 95-98% and 90.1-92.6%, respectively. Altogether, our data suggest that SAHW is an effective compound for controlling rice bakanae disease.