The Microbiome of the Lebanese Wild Apple, Malus trilobata, is a Rich Source of Potential Biocontrol Agents for Fungal Post-harvest Pathogens of Apples
The widespread use of harmful fungicides in the agricultural sector has led to a demand for safer alternatives to protect against crop pathogens. The domestic apple is the second most highly consumed fruit in the world and encounters several pre- and post-harvest fungal and bacterial phytopathogens....
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Published in | Current microbiology Vol. 78; no. 4; pp. 1388 - 1398 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Springer US
01.04.2021
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The widespread use of harmful fungicides in the agricultural sector has led to a demand for safer alternatives to protect against crop pathogens. The domestic apple is the second most highly consumed fruit in the world and encounters several pre- and post-harvest fungal and bacterial phytopathogens. The goal of this study was to explore the uncharacterized microbiome of a wild apple,
Malus trilobata
, as a potential source of novel biocontrol agents for two post-harvest fungi that affect commercial apples:
Botrytis cinerea
and
Penicillium expansum
. We sampled microflora associated with the leaves, bulk soil, and roots of
Malus trilobata
in two regions of Lebanon: Ehden reserve in the north and Dhour EL Choueir near Beirut. The two regions have different soil types Dhour EL Choueir and samples from the two regions showed very different microbial compositions, with greater microbial diversity among those from Ehden reserve. Molecular characterization revealed a wide variety of genera displaying activity against the two fungal pathogens, including several with previously unknown antifungal activity:
Bosea
,
Microlunatus
,
Microbacterium
,
Mycetecola
,
Rhizobium
and
Paraphoma
. In total, 92 strains inhibited
Penicillium expansum
(39%) and 87 strains inhibited
Botrytis cinerea
(38%) out of 237 screened. Further chemical and genetic characterization of one or more selected strains could pave the way for future development of new biocontrol agents for post-harvest applications. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0343-8651 1432-0991 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00284-021-02397-w |