Abstract
The exploitation of plant volatile organic compounds as biofumigants to control postharvest decaying of agro-products has received considerable research attention. Our previous study reported that 1-nonanol, the main constituent of cereal volatiles, can inhibit Aspergillus flavus growth and has the potential as a biofumigant to control the fungal spoilage of cereal grains. However, the antifungal mechanism of 1-nonanol against A. flavus is still unclear at the molecular level. In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration of 1-nonanol against A. flavus spores were 2 and 4 μL/mL, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the 1-nonanol can distort the morphology of A. flavus spore. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining showed that 1-nonanol induced phosphatidylserine eversion and increased membrane permeability of A. flavus spores. Transcriptional profile analysis showed that 1-nonanol treatment mainly affected the expression of genes related to membrane damage, oxidative phosphorylation, blockage of DNA replication, and autophagy in A. flavus spores. Flow cytometry analysis showed that 1-nonanol treatment caused hyperpolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and accumulation of reactive oxygen species in A. flavus spores. 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining showed that treatment with 1-nonanol destroyed the DNA. Biochemical analysis results confirmed that 1-nonanol exerted destructive effects on A. flavus spores by decreasing intracellular adenosine triphosphate content, reducing mitochondrial ATPase activity, accumulating hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anions, and increasing catalase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities. This study provides new insights into the antifungal mechanisms of 1-nonanol against A. flavus.
Key points
• 1-Nonanol treatment resulted in abnormal morphology of A. flavus spores.
• 1-Nonanol affects the expression of key growth-related genes of A. flavus.
• The apoptosis of A. favus spores were induced after exposed to 1-nonanol.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31772023), the National Key Research and Development Plan of China (grant number 2019YFC1605303-04), the Scientific and Technological Research Project of Henan Province (grant number 212102110193), the Natural Scientific Research Innovation Foundation of Henan University of Technology (grant number 2020ZKCJ01), the Cultivation Programme for Young Backbone Teachers in Henan University of Technology, and the Scientific Research Foundation of Henan University of Technology (grant number 2018RCJH14).
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Y. L. Q.: experimentation; writing—original draft; investigation. S. B. Z.: supervision; data curation; writing—review and editing; resources. Y. Y. L.: software, visualization. H. C. Z.: software, validation. Y. S. H.: visualization, conceptualization, validation. J. P. C.: methodology, conceptualization.
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Qin, YL., Zhang, SB., Lv, YY. et al. Transcriptomics analyses and biochemical characterization of Aspergillus flavus spores exposed to 1-nonanol. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 106, 2091–2106 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-11830-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-11830-4