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Antifungal activities and the mechanisms of biocontrol agent WE-3 against postharvest sour rot in citrus

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Abstract

Sour rot caused by Geotrichum citri-aurantii is a serious postharvest disease of citrus that can result in devastating economic losses. In this study, a new bacterial strain, WE-3, was isolated from soil samples of orchards at Huazhong Agricultural University and then screened in vitro to investigate its antifungal activity against G. citri-aurantii. Bacterium WE-3 was characterized as a member of the Bacillus family by physiological, biochemical, and 16S ribosomal gene analyses. The culture filtrate from strain WE-3 could effectively restrain the expansion of G. citri-aurantii in citrus after 6 d of artificial inoculation. Scanning electron microscopy examination showed that the WE-3 culture filtrate-treated G. citri-aurantii spores were morphologically longer and smoother. The expression of two chitin synthase-related genes and a redox-related gene remained downregulated when G. citri-aurantii was incubated with the WE-3 culture filtrate. Meanwhile, cellular content leakage was accompanied by cell vacuolation of the culture filtrate-treated G. citri-aurantii cells upon transmission electron microscopy examination. Finally, culture filtrate-handled citrus fruit exhibited similar physiological qualities to distilled water-handled fruit. Our study reveals that bacterial strain WE-3 might be a potent biological control agent against G. citri-aurantii in citrus.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant NO. 31972122), Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi (Gui Ke AA17204045-4) and the Earmarked Fund of China Agriculture Research System (Grant NO. CARS-26) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhonghuan Tian, Yang Li, Qian Yang, Yujie Du & Chao-an Long

  2. National R&D Center For Citrus Preservation, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhonghuan Tian, Yang Li, Qian Yang, Yujie Du & Chao-an Long

  3. National Citrus Breeding Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhonghuan Tian, Yang Li, Qian Yang, Yujie Du & Chao-an Long

  4. Guangxi Academy of Specialty Crops, Guilin, 541004, China

    Ping Liu & Chuanwu Chen

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  1. Zhonghuan Tian
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  2. Yang Li
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  3. Qian Yang
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  4. Ping Liu
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  7. Chao-an Long
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Correspondence to Chuanwu Chen or Chao-an Long.

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Tian, Z., Li, Y., Yang, Q. et al. Antifungal activities and the mechanisms of biocontrol agent WE-3 against postharvest sour rot in citrus. Eur J Plant Pathol 161, 723–733 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02356-y

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