Identification of Monilinia species from apple trees in Khorramabad district and investigation of biological alternatives to control apple brown rot in storage

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, University, Khorramabad, Iran.

2 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricaltural and Resources, Lorestan University, Lorestan, KhorramAbad, Iran.

3 1Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricaltural and Resources, Lorestan University, Lorestan, KhorramAbad, Iran.

Abstract

Monilinia fungus has been reported as the cause of brown rot disease in many fruits of the Rosaceae family around the world. This study was conducted in order to identify the fungal species responsible for the brown rot of apple trees in Khorram Abad city using a molecular method based on specific primers, the morphological diversity of Monilinia isolates, and also the screening of 4 potential antagonistic bacterial isolates against the pathogenic agent. Fungal isolates were isolated from the main areas of apple production. The identification of fungal species based on the morphological characteristics of isolates cultivated in PDA culture medium as well as the results obtained from the molecular method based on species-specific primers showed that all isolates belong to M. laxa species. The biological control properties of four antagonistic bacteria Serratia marcescens, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus sp and Pseudomonas baetica were tested in laboratory and storage conditions against M. laxa causing brown rot of apple fruits after harvesting. The results of the effects of volatile compounds, non-volatile compounds and bacterial cell-free extracts showed that the tested isolates have the effect of inhibiting the growth of pathogenic mycelium. In this study, S. marcescens AP5 and B. cereus AP13 isolates showed more than 70% inhibition of pathogenic mycelium growth. The effect of these two bacteria on the rate of apple brown rot in storage conditions was 84.25 and 77.85%, and the effect of methyl thiophate fungicide was 85.62%. The results of this research show that these two bacterial isolates protect apples against M. laxa through direct and indirect mechanisms and therefore, they can be used as potential biological control agents (BCAs) in preventive treatment to control brown rot disease in apple fruits.

Keywords

Journal of Applied Research in Plant Protection

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 January 2024

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History

  • Receive Date: 27 May 2023
  • Revise Date: 09 August 2023
  • Accept Date: 11 August 2023

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