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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Food Quality Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #392115
Research Project: Development of Novel Tools to Manage Fungal Plant Pathogens that Cause Postharvest Decay of Pome Fruit to Reduce Food Waste

Location: Food Quality Laboratory

Title: The dual nature of Lambertella corni-maris as an apple fruit pathogen and antagonist of Monilinia spp

Author
item VASIC, MILAN - University Of Belgrade
item VICO, IVANA - University Of Belgrade
item Jurick, Wayne
item DUDUK, BOJAN - Institute Of Pestiides And Environmental Protection
item DUDUK, NATASA - University Of Belgrade

Submitted to: PhytoFrontiers
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/14/2022
Publication Date: 10/10/2022
Citation: Vasic, M., Vico, I., Jurick Ii, W.M., Duduk, B., Duduk, N. 2022. The dual nature of Lambertella corni-maris as an apple fruit pathogen and antagonist of Monilinia spp. PhytoFrontiers. 21.Article 91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-022-01841-w.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-022-01841-w

Interpretive Summary: Yellow rot or Lambertella rot is caused by a fungus that causes apple fruit decay and can also destroy other fungal rot pathogens. The disease and pathogen have been described in Washington State and in other parts of the world including Eastern Europe. However, this was the first time that yellow rot was found and described in Serbia. We used classical and modern tools to study this fungus in detail and showed that it can inhibit many other species of fungi that cause brown rot. Results from this study not only deliver biologically interesting results, but also practical information for fruit growers to identify the disease, and will facilitate future studies by scientists to develop a natural control strategy for brown rot based on these findings.

Technical Abstract: Lambertella corni-maris was isolated from a dark brown lesion on apple fruit cv. Golden Delicious collected from an orchard, and from apple fruit cv. Idared previously colonized with M. polystroma. The contrasting origin of the isolates led us to hypothesize that this fungus behaves differently in various interactions, which triggered the investigation of L. corni-maris pathogenic and antagonistic nature. Following identification based on cultural and molecular characteristics, isolates of different origin were characterized and their cultural, ecological, pathogenic and antagonistic features were compared. This study has shown that L. corni-maris originally isolated as an apple fruit pathogen and one as an antagonist of M. polystroma have similar features in vitro and in vivo. Although, the isolates vary in growth rate, culture morphology and crystal production, as well as intensity of dark zone and co-antagonism with two Monilinia species, both can live solely as apple fruit pathogens and are able to inhibit and replace different Monilinia spp. on apple fruit, which illuminates their dual nature in different host and pathogen interactions. While our findings are biologically intriguing, results from this investigation have translative potential to utilize L. corni-maris as a model for developing strategies to block brown rot development of apple.