The decay and fungal succession of apples with bitter rot across a vegetation diversity gradient
The decay and fungal succession of apples with bitter rot across a vegetation diversity gradient
Bitter rot is a disease of apple caused by fungi in the genus Colletotrichum. Management begins with removal of infected twigs and fruit from tree canopies to reduce overwintering inoculum. Infected apple fruit are usually tossed to the orchard floor, which is generally managed as herbicide-treated weed-free tree rows, separated by grass drive rows. We monitored decay rates and succession of fungi of apple fruit with bitter rot in tree canopies, and on the soil surface in tree rows, grass drive rows, and nearby diverse plant communities. We hypothesized that decay would occur most rapidly within diverse plant communities, which would provide a more diverse array of potential fungal decomposers. Apple fruit in tree canopies became dry and mummified and had more Colletotrichum gene marker copies the following growing season than did fruit on the soil surface. Of the soil-surface samples, those in grass drive rows and diverse plant communities had higher moisture, faster decay rates, and sharper decreases in Colletotrichum gene marker copies than apple fruit in tree rows. Fungal composition across all decaying apple fruit was dominated by yeasts, with higher genus-level richness, diversity, and evenness in fruit from tree canopies than those on the soil surface. In soil-surface apple fruit, we observed clear successional waves of Pichia, Kregervanrija, and [Candida] yeasts, with similar but distinctly diverging fungal composition. Our results show that orchard floor management can influence fungal succession in apple fruit with bitter rot but suggests that bitter rot management should primarily focus on removing infected apple fruit from tree canopies.
agriculture, Colletotrichum fioriniae, ecology, Groenewaldozyma, integrated disease management, Kregervanrija, Metschnikowia, microbiome, mycology, Papiliotrema, Pichia, plant pathology, Tausonia, yeast, [Candida]
26-34
Martin, Phillip L.
02b3353c-205f-4af3-af59-67bb89fdf6ad
King, William L.
0bd4328a-34ba-4b9a-bf4e-1442c18c43fc
Bell, Terrence H.
29863b8c-a89c-4077-b22d-62052cfb7225
Peter, Kari A.
9ebb0f39-f533-40ae-88b0-67838825de24
24 January 2022
Martin, Phillip L.
02b3353c-205f-4af3-af59-67bb89fdf6ad
King, William L.
0bd4328a-34ba-4b9a-bf4e-1442c18c43fc
Bell, Terrence H.
29863b8c-a89c-4077-b22d-62052cfb7225
Peter, Kari A.
9ebb0f39-f533-40ae-88b0-67838825de24
Martin, Phillip L., King, William L., Bell, Terrence H. and Peter, Kari A.
(2022)
The decay and fungal succession of apples with bitter rot across a vegetation diversity gradient.
Phytobiomes Journal, 6 (1), .
(doi:10.1094/PBIOMES-06-21-0039-R).
Abstract
Bitter rot is a disease of apple caused by fungi in the genus Colletotrichum. Management begins with removal of infected twigs and fruit from tree canopies to reduce overwintering inoculum. Infected apple fruit are usually tossed to the orchard floor, which is generally managed as herbicide-treated weed-free tree rows, separated by grass drive rows. We monitored decay rates and succession of fungi of apple fruit with bitter rot in tree canopies, and on the soil surface in tree rows, grass drive rows, and nearby diverse plant communities. We hypothesized that decay would occur most rapidly within diverse plant communities, which would provide a more diverse array of potential fungal decomposers. Apple fruit in tree canopies became dry and mummified and had more Colletotrichum gene marker copies the following growing season than did fruit on the soil surface. Of the soil-surface samples, those in grass drive rows and diverse plant communities had higher moisture, faster decay rates, and sharper decreases in Colletotrichum gene marker copies than apple fruit in tree rows. Fungal composition across all decaying apple fruit was dominated by yeasts, with higher genus-level richness, diversity, and evenness in fruit from tree canopies than those on the soil surface. In soil-surface apple fruit, we observed clear successional waves of Pichia, Kregervanrija, and [Candida] yeasts, with similar but distinctly diverging fungal composition. Our results show that orchard floor management can influence fungal succession in apple fruit with bitter rot but suggests that bitter rot management should primarily focus on removing infected apple fruit from tree canopies.
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Published date: 24 January 2022
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Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture– National Institute of Food and Agriculture under project PEN04694 and accession number 1018736 and project PEN04651 and accession number 1016233; the North-east Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number GNE16-180-32231; and a National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture under project PEN04694 and accession number 1018736 and project PEN04651 and accession number 1016233; the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number GNE16-180-32231; and a National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The American Phytopathological Society
Keywords:
agriculture, Colletotrichum fioriniae, ecology, Groenewaldozyma, integrated disease management, Kregervanrija, Metschnikowia, microbiome, mycology, Papiliotrema, Pichia, plant pathology, Tausonia, yeast, [Candida]
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Local EPrints ID: 486654
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486654
PURE UUID: 632e995b-8383-47b7-8330-d1804378f35b
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Date deposited: 30 Jan 2024 17:57
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:18
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Contributors
Author:
Phillip L. Martin
Author:
William L. King
Author:
Terrence H. Bell
Author:
Kari A. Peter
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