Location: Food Quality Laboratory
2024 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Elucidate genes and mechanisms involved in postharvest pathology of fruits, such as apple (NP303, C2, PS 2b).
Sub-objective 1.A. Functionally analyze 14 specific single-copy genes in Penicillium expansum using recombinant DNA technologies and evaluate mutants for defects in fruit decay, virulence, and patulin production.
Sub-objective 1.B. Evaluate P. expansum mutants to inhibit and/or outcompete wild type Penicillium spp. in vitro and under controlled storage conditions.
Objective 2: Develop and optimize new treatments during storage to enhance postharvest decay management of fruits. (NP303, C3, PS 3b).
Sub-objective 2.A. Determine the spore holding capacity of wooden and plastic storage bins and the ability of bin inoculum to manifest in postharvest decay for stored fruit.
Sub-objective 2.B: Examine and optimize new treatments to reduce fungal inoculum, combat antimicrobial resistance, and prevent rot of pome fruit during storage.
Approach
This plan will develop innovative methods, tools, and approaches to manage blue mold. Systems-based analysis of omics data has revealed virulence gene candidates expressed by Penicillium expansum during apple fruit decay. The basic research outlined in Objective 1 will verify virulence gene function in P. expansum, create new mutant antagonists, generate new fundamental information, and fill existing knowledge gaps. The applied research contained in Objective 2 will determine optimal approaches for bin sanitation, develop novel methods to reduce fungal inoculum responsible for decay, and evaluate new antagonists to block decay. Fundamental information and antagonists generated in Objective 1, coupled with practical outcomes from Objective 2, will be integrated to deliver timely solutions that impact science, industry, and the public. Optimal postharvest decay management will enhance the viability, strengthen longevity, and increase the competitiveness of the US in the global fruit market and reduce food loss and waste at commercial and consumer levels.
Progress Report
Progress has been made under Objectives 1 and 2 to solve blue mold decay of apple and pear fruit. Research towards Objective 1 entails the deletion of 2 lactonase genes in P. expansum and subsequent characterization of their function regarding patulin production and fruit decay. Hence, these two loci may serve as key points to target patulin reduction in the fungus using molecular approaches. For the second objective, it was demonstrated that plastic and wooden storage bins can serve as a direct source of rot, via spore suspensions and blue mold decayed apple fruit. This necessitates further studies to search for bin sanitizers and we have identified that ultraviolet light and a volatile organic compound can reduce spore loads and result in less apple fruit decay. Testing of bin coatings and nanomaterials is also in progress to investigate their impact on spore binding, viability and infection potential to cause postharvest decay. Additional progress on the project has been made in showing that an accession from the wild apple germplasm collection having resistance to multiple postharvest pathogens that cause blue mold, bitter rot, gray mold, and Alternaria rot. The genetic material has been obtained from the germplasm collection in Geneva, New York, and we are collaborating with collaborating with researchers at Kearneysville, West Virginia, to cross the wild apple accession with rapid cycle breeding lines to test for resistance to multiple postharvest pathogens.
Accomplishments
1. Fighting fungus with fungus to control blue mold decay. Blue mold causes economic losses, increases food waste and results in patulin contamination for processed fruit products. The disease is caused by a fungus, affects apple and pear fruit during storage, and new methods of control are needed. Researchers in Beltsville, Maryland, have demonstrated that Penicillium chrysogenum, can inhibit and reduce blue mold decay severity and incidence in apple fruit. Before this work was conducted, scientists did not know the exclusionary impact between these two different species and that P. chrysogenum could block decay development in different apple fruit cultivars. This breakthrough represents a new paradigm for biological control and provides a platform to release these strains for chemical-free, environmentally friendly postharvest blue mold control.
Review Publications
Luciano-Rosario, D., Peng, H., Gaskins, V.L., Fonseca, J.M., Keller, N.P., Jurick II, W.M. 2023. Mining the penicillium expansum genome for virulence genes: A functional-based approach to discover novel loci mediating blue mold decay of apple fruit. The Journal of Fungi. 9(11). Article e1066. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9111066.
Gu, G., Ding, Q., Redding, M., Yang, Y., O'Brien, R., Gu, T., Zhang, B., Zhou, B., Micallef, S.A., Luo, Y., Fonseca, J.M., Nou, X. 2024. Differential microbiota shift on whole romaine lettuce subjected to source or forward processing and on fresh-cut products during cold storage. International Journal of Food Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2024.110665.
Peng, H., Luo, Y., Teng, Z., Zhou, B., Pearlstein, D.J., Wang, D., Turner, E.R., Nou, X., Wang, T.T., Tao, Y., Fonseca, J.M., Simko, I. 2024. Genome-wide association mapping reveals loci for enzymatic discoloration on cut lettuce. Postharvest Biology and Technology. 207. Article 112577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2023.112577.
Teng, Z., Luo, Y., Sun, J., Pearlstein, D.J., Oehler, M., Fitzwater, J.D., Zhou, B., Hussan, M.A., Chang, C.Y., Chen, P., Wang, Q., Fonseca, J.M. 2024. Effect of far-red light on biomass accumulation, plant morphology, and phytonutrient composition of ruby streaks mustard at microgreen, baby leaf, and flowering stages. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 72(17):9587–9598. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c06834.
Bartholomew, H.P., Luciano-Rosario, D., Bradshaw, M., Gaskins, V.L., Peng, H., Jurick II, W.M., Fonseca, J.M. 2023. Avirulent isolates of Penicillium chrysogenum to control blue mold of apple caused by P. expansum. Microorganisms. 11(11). Article e2792. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11112792.
Khodadadi, F., Santander, R., Mchenry, D., Jurick II, W.M., Acimovic, S.G. 2023. A bitter, complex problem: causal Colletotrichum species in Virginia orchards and apple fruit susceptibility. Plant Disease. 107(10):2907-3272. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-10-22-0204-A.
Khodadadi, F., Giroux, E., Bilodeau, G., Jurick II, W.M., Acimovic, S.G. 2023. Genomic resources of four colletotrichum species (c. fioriniae, c. chrysophilum, c. noveborasense and c. nupharicola) threatening commercial apple production in the eastern United States. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. 36(8):529–532. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-10-22-0204-A.
Bartholomew, H.P., Lichtner, F., Bradshaw, M., Gaskins, V.L., Fonseca, J.M., Bennett, J., Jurick II, W.M. 2022. Comparative Penicillium spp. transcriptomics: conserved pathways and processes revealed in ungerminated conidia and during postharvest apple fruit decay. Microorganisms. 10(12). Article e2414. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122414.
Park, E., Luo, Y., Zhou, B., Fonseca, J.M., Stommel, J.R. 2024. Varied attributes of jalapeño pepper cultivars influence fresh-cut product quality. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 149(3):152-161. https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS05346-23.
Teplitski, M., Fonseca, J.M. 2024. Biotechnologies and bioinspired approaches for reducing loss and waste of foods of plant origin. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 85. Article e103028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2023.103028.