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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #324586

Title: Alternative management technologies for postharvest disease control: the journey from simplicity to complexity

Author
item Wisniewski, Michael
item Norelli, John
item DROBY, SAMIR - Volcani Center (ARO)
item LIU, JIA - Hefei University Of Technology
item SCHENA, LEONARDO - University Of Reggio Calabria

Submitted to: Postharvest Biology and Technology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/25/2016
Publication Date: 6/11/2016
Citation: Wisniewski, M.E., Norelli, J.L., Droby, S., Liu, J., Schena, L. 2016. Alternative management technologies for postharvest disease control: the journey from simplicity to complexity. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 122:3-10.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: It has been often stated that we have moved from an age of chemistry to an age of biology. The ease of sequencing genomes and obtaining related genotypic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomics information is leading to the development of new commercial technologies where problems are solved "biologically". In regards to postharvest disease control, we have truly moved from simplicity to complexity in our understanding of how we can manage postharvest diseases in a cost-effective and reliable manner, and how various alternative technologies (antagonists, natural compounds, and physical treatments) impact the host and the community of microorganisms that we are attempting to manage and regulate. Plant pathologists developing alternative technologies are slowly moving away from the "silver bullet" concept where a single intervention can be used to control a disease to viewing plant disease as a process where multiple interventions may be required at different points in the disease process. Over the past 20 to 30 years, alternatives have moved from the simple idea of applying high concentrations of biocontrol agents to a harvested commodity, to using a wide array of other approaches, as reviewed in this Special Issue, and integrating them together into a systems approach based on the multiple decrement or multiple hurdle concept. It has been a long journey from simplicity to complexity, and as Shakespeare reveals in the quote at the beginning of this contribution, thereby, hangs a tale.