Study on the biocontrol effect and physiological mechanism of Hannaella sinensis on the blue mold decay of apples

• Published in: International journal of food microbiology 2022-12, Vol.382, p.109931-109931, Article 109931
• Main Authors: Lin, Rouling, Yang, Qiya, Xiao, Jinwei, Solairaj, Dhanasekaran, Ngea, Guillaume Legrand Ngolong, Zhang, Hongyin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apples; Biocontrol; Defense-related enzymes; Hannaella sinensis; Penicillium expansum; Resistance-related gene expression
• ISSN: 0168-1605; 1879-3460
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.109931

Blue mold decay is a major postharvest disease of apples, causing considerable losses to the apple industry. In the early stage of this research, an antagonistic yeast, Hannaella sinensis, with a good control effect on the blue mold of apples, was selected. On this basis, the main purpose of this work was to study the biocontrol effect of H. sinensis on the blue mold of apples and the mechanisms involved. The results showed that H. sinensis could effectively control the blue mold decay of apples, reduce the rot rate and diameter, and the antagonistic effect strengthened with the increase of H. sinensis concentration (1 × 108 cells/mL). Further in vitro experiments proved that H. sinensis could significantly inhibit the spore germination and germ tube length of P. expansum. In addition, stable colonization of H. sinensis on apple wounds and surfaces confirmed the environmental adaptability and the ability to compete with other microbiota for nutrition and space. Moreover, H. sinensis induced the activities of resistance-related enzymes such as polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in apples and the content of the coding genes corresponding to these enzymes was also higher than that of the control group. Our results indicate that H. sinensis treatment could induce the disease resistance of apples. In summary, H. sinensis served as a promising antagonistic yeast for the prevention and treatment of postharvest blue mold decay of apples. •H. sinensis effectively controlled the blue mold decay of apples.•H. sinensis colonized wounds and surfaces of apples stably at 20 °C and 4 °C.•PPO, POD, APX, SOD and PAL activities of apples were induced by H. sinensis.•The expression level of PPO, POD, APX, SOD and PAL of apples were increased.