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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Food Quality Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #316704
Title: Blue mold to genomics and beyond: Insights into the biology and virulence of phytopathogenic Penicillium species

Author
item Jurick, Wayne
item Yu, Jiujiang
item BENNETT, JOAN - Rutgers University

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2015
Publication Date: 4/1/2016
Citation: Jurick II, W.M., Yu, J., Bennett, J.W. 2016. Blue mold to genomics and beyond: Insights into the biology and virulence of phytopathogenic Penicillium species. In: de Vries, R.P., Gelber, I.B., Anderson, M.R., editors. Aspergillus and Penicillium in the Post-genomic Era. Denmark: Caister Academic Press. p. 210.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Pomes, mainly apples and pears, are economically important fruits produced and consumed worldwide. The United States is the second largest producer of pome fruit in the world behind China. Penicillium expansum and other Penicillium spp. are the most common fungal plant pathogens that cause blue mold decay during storage. Fruit decay due to blue mold not only results in significant economic losses for the apple and pear fruit packing and processing industries, but is a food safety concern because this pathogen produces a wide variety of mycotoxins (patulin, citrinin, and penicillic acid). Several of these toxins contaminate processed fruit products like juices, sauces and butters as patulin is of major concern. Due to its toxic and potentially carcinogenic effects, the European Union, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as other countries, have imposed strict limits on the permissible amounts of patulin in fruit juices and processed fruit products. In this review, the current research status on Penicillium biology, epidemiology, genomics and functional genomics have been discussed.