First Report of Botryosphaeria dothidea Causing Postharvest Fruit Rot of Plum in China

HomePlant DiseaseAhead of PrintFirst Report of Botryosphaeria dothidea Causing Postharvest Fruit Rot of Plum in China PreviousNext DISEASE NOTE OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Botryosphaeria dothidea Causing Postharvest Fruit Rot of Plum in ChinaXiaolin Yuan, Yuting Qi, Zheng Wu, Chunxi Yang, and Chaoyu CuiXiaolin Yuanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2669-4114Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Fungal Resources, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China, Yuting QiJiangxi Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Fungal Resources, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China, Zheng WuJiangxi Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Fungal Resources, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China, Chunxi Yang†Corresponding authors: C. X. Yang; E-mail Address: email protected, and C. Y. Cui; E-mail Address: email protectedhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5977-0582Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China, and Chaoyu Cui†Corresponding authors: C. X. Yang; E-mail Address: email protected, and C. Y. Cui; E-mail Address: email protectedhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5535-0425Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Fungal Resources, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, ChinaBioengineering and Technological Research Centre for Edible and Medicinal Fungi, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, ChinaAffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations Xiaolin Yuan1 Yuting Qi1 Zheng Wu1 Chunxi Yang2 † Chaoyu Cui1 3 † 1Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Fungal Resources, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China 2Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China 3Bioengineering and Technological Research Centre for Edible and Medicinal Fungi, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, Jiangxi, China Published Online:3 Apr 2024https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-23-2680-PDNAboutSectionsView articlePDFSupplemental ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat View articleNai plum (Prunus salicina var. cordata cv. Younai) holds significance as an important deciduous fruit crop in China. In July 2023, symptoms of postharvest fruit rot were observed on Nai plum fruits with a 10% disease incidence in three supermarkets located in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China. Infected fruits displayed brown, circular lesions, accompanied by a transition in the surrounding peel color from cyan to red. To investigate the causal agent, small sections (3 to 4 mm2) from the periphery of 10 infected fruits were subjected to surface sterilization using 75% ethanol for 30 s. Following sterilization, the samples were rinsed three times with sterilized distilled water, air-dried, and aseptically placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25°C for 3 days. Isolated colonies were subcultured by hyphal tip transfer. Ten of the resulting 12 fungal isolates showed similar morphological characteristics. The colonies exhibited initially a white hue, gradually transitioning to gray, and featured short and thick aerial hyphae with an irregular colony margin. Microscopic examination revealed conidiogenous cells that were hyaline, aseptate, and narrowly fusiform. Conidia measured 11.0 to 15.6 × 3.2 to 4.9 μm (x̅ = 13.5 ± 1.4 × 4.0 ± 0.4 μm, n = 30) and were hyaline and subcylindrical. The morphological characteristics were similar to those of Botryosphaeria species (Crous et al. 2006). To identify the strain, two representative isolates, JFRL03-1792 and JFRL03-1793, were selected for further characterization. Amplification of nucleotide sequences from three regions (ITS, TEF1-a, and TUB2) was conducted using the primer sets ITS5/ITS4, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, and BT2A/BT2B, respectively (Guo et al. 2023). The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers OR418373 and OR418374 for ITS, OR424405 and OR424405 for TEF1-a, and OR424411 and OR424412 for TUB2. A BLASTN homology search of the obtained sequences revealed a high similarity of 99 to 100% to the ITS (AY236949, 511/513 nucleotides), TEF1-a (AY236898, 282/282 nucleotides), and TUB2 (AY236927, 431/431 nucleotides) sequences of Botryosphaeria dothidea CWM8000 (ex-type). Maximum-likelihood analyses were performed for the combined ITS, TEF1-a, and TUB2 dataset using PhyloSuite version 1.2.2 (Zhang et al. 2020). The resulting phylogenetic tree indicated that the two representative isolates clustered together with B. dothidea in a clade with 95% bootstrap support. Based on the comprehensive assessment of morphological and molecular data, the two isolates were conclusively identified as B. dothidea. To confirm pathogenicity, six healthy Nai plum fruits were surface sterilized with 75% ethanol and were subsequently wounded with a sterile needle. A 5-mm-diameter mycelial plug of the isolate JFRL03-1792, cultured on PDA at 25°C for three days, was applied to the wound. Another set of six fruits was inoculated with sterile agar plugs as controls. Following incubation in a climatic chamber at 25°C and 80% relative humidity, the fruits were examined after 5 days. The experiment was repeated two times. The fruits inoculated with B. dothidea displayed typical rot symptoms, whereas the control fruits remained asymptomatic. In adherence to Koch's postulates, the fungus was successfully reisolated from the inoculated fruits and confirmed as B. dothidea through morphological and molecular analysis. B. dothidea has previously been reported causing fruit rot on kiwifruit, winter jujube, and apple (Marsberg et al. 2017; Tang et al. 2012; Xu et al. 2023; Zhou et al. 2015) and also Botryosphaeria canker disease on plum (Lin et al. 1994). To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. dothidea causing postharvest fruit rot on plum in China. 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Plant Dis. 99:699. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-14-0727-RELink, ISI, Google ScholarFunding: This work was supported by the Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (20212BAB216004) and Health Commission of Jiangxi Province (202310199).The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Just PublishedSubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 Metrics Article History Published: 3 Apr 2024First Look: 21 Feb 2024Accepted: 16 Feb 2024 Information© 2024 The American Phytopathological SocietyFundingJiangxi Provincial Natural Science FoundationGrant/Award Number: 20212BAB216004Health Commission of Jiangxi ProvinceGrant/Award Number: 202310199KeywordsBotryosphaeria dothideafruit rotfungipathogen detectionThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.PDF download