Fig 1. Cellular targets of principal antifungals used in medicine and in agriculture.

The cited antifungals and fungicides have the following mode of action: polyenes bind ergosterol; phenylpyrroles and dicarboximides inhibit MAP/histidine-kinases; azoles and morpholines target 14α-lanosterol demethylase and both sterol Δ14-reductase and Δ8-Δ7-isomerase, respectively (both chemical classes are used in medicine and in the environment); allylamines target squalene epoxidase; pyrimidine analogues interfere with nucleic acid biosynthesis whereas phenylamides target RNA polymerase I; benzimidazoles bind to b-tubulin; strobilurins and succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors inhibit both the electron transfer chain of mitochondrial respiration by inhibiting complex III and complex II, respectively; anilinopyrimidines target mitochondrial signaling pathways; candins target the biosynthesis of β-1,3 glucans. MAP, Mitogen-activated protein.