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Susceptibility of apple fruits (Malus x domestica Borkh.) to the postharvest pathogen Colletotrichum fioriniae: cultivar differences and correlation with fruit ripening characteristics

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Abstract

Colletotrichum spp. infections are an increasing threat to the fruit production industry worldwide, as a postharvest disease. Gaining knowledge on the susceptibility of apple fruit cultivars to Colletotrichum species is essential for specific breeding programs aiming to decrease the disease susceptibility of commercial apple cultivars. We investigated fruit susceptibility of nine apple cultivars at harvest and after storage, and studied the relationship of the susceptibility with fruit ripening characteristics. An accurate artificial inoculation technique, by wounding and injecting the spore suspension, was used to consistently follow-up the relative susceptibility symptoms of fruits. The nine apple cultivars studied, cvs. Pinova, Nicoter, Nicogreen, Golden Delicious, Gala, Elstar, Jonathan, Idared and Topaz, showed clear differences in susceptibility to C. fioriniae, main species causing problems in Europe, based on lesion expansion growth rate data. Cultivar Nicoter and Nicogreen were evaluated as less susceptible cultivars, while cv. Golden Delicious and cv. Pinova were classified as high susceptible cultivars. After three months of storage all fruit cultivars showed a higher susceptibility than at harvest. We further explored the link between fruit ripening characteristics and postharvest pathogen developments. Results showed significant higher Brix, ethylene production and respiration and significantly lower firmness and titratable acids after storage, with the extent of these changes being cultivar dependent. The ripening parameters respiration and Brix had a positive and the firmness a negative correlation with the lesion expansion growth rate of C. fioriniae after artificial wound inoculations. These experiments help to give a better insight in the susceptibility of different cultivars. Moreover, our data support the hypothesis that the extent of the necrotrophic fungal development depends on the fruit ripening stage.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) Flanders for providing funding for this research (grant number 1S44116N).

Funding

This study was funded by FWO (research foundation Flanders) Grant number: 1S44116N.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Fruit Breeding and Biotechnology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

    A. Grammen & W. Keulemans

  2. Research Station of Fruit Cultivation, Fruittuinweg 1, 3800, Sint-Truiden, Belgium

    J. Van Campenhout

  3. Division MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, P.O. Box 2428, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

    A. Geeraerd

Authors
  1. A. Grammen
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  2. J. Van Campenhout
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  4. W. Keulemans
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Grammen.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary figure 1

Average number of lesions per fruit counted in time (days post inoculation, abbrev. DPI) after nebulizing intact fruits of nine different apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) with Colletotrichum fioriniae at harvest and after three months of storage at 2 °C ambient air in year 2. (PNG 1316 kb)

Supplementary figure 2

Average results (and standard deviation) of Brix (in %), firmness (in kg/cm2), titrable acids (in mg/mL) and LEGR of C. fioriniae (in mm/day) of nine apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) measured at harvest and after three months of storage in year 1. (JPG 1855 kb)

Supplementary figure 3

Average results of ethylene production (in nmol/kg.s) and LEGR of C. fioriniae (in mm/day) of nine apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) measured at harvest and after three months of storage in year 1. (JPG 1850 kb)

Supplementary figure 4

Average results of CO2 production (in nmol/kg.s), O2 consumption (in nmol/kg.s) and LEGR of C. fioriniae (in mm/day) of nine apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) measured at harvest and after three months of storage in year 1. (JPG 1806 kb)

Supplementary figure 5

Average results of Brix (in %), firmness (in kg/cm2), titrable acids (in mg/mL) and LEGR of C. fioriniae (in mm/day) of nine apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) measured at harvest and after three months of storage in year 2. (JPG 1887 kb)

Supplementary figure 6

Average results of ethylene production (in nmol/kg.s) and LEGR of C. fioriniae (in mm/day) of nine apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) measured at harvest and after three months of storage in year 2. (JPG 1670 kb)

Supplementary figure 7

Average results of CO2 production (in nmol/kg.s), O2 consumption (in nmol/kg.s) and LEGR of C. fioriniae (in mm/day) of nine apple cultivars (Elstar, Gala, Golden Delicious, Idared, Jonathan, Nicogreen, Nicoter, Pinova and Topaz) measured at harvest and after three months of storage in year 2. (JPG 1652 kb)

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Grammen, A., Van Campenhout, J., Geeraerd, A. et al. Susceptibility of apple fruits (Malus x domestica Borkh.) to the postharvest pathogen Colletotrichum fioriniae: cultivar differences and correlation with fruit ripening characteristics. Eur J Plant Pathol 155, 801–816 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-019-01812-0

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