Bacterial and Fungal Microbiome Profiling in Chilhuacle Negro Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) Associated With Fruit Rot Disease

Abstract

Chilhuacle negro chili (Capsicum annuum L.) is an ancient Mexican landrace that is deeply linked to the culinary heritage of the country. Due to the high profitability and uniqueness of this crop, the “Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos”, is one of the Mexican institutions exploring its production in controlled environments. In the summer of 2018, the production of chilhuacle negro plants was seriously affected by an unidentified pathogen causing fruit rot, which reduced its quality, yield and market value. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to study and characterize the fruit microbiota, which could help reveal the causal agent of this disease. Using DNA metabarcoding coupled with Illumina and nanopore sequencing technologies, both healthy and infected chili fruit, along with greenhouse bioaerosols, were collected and analyzed. We also explored the bacterial and fungal microbiota using microbiological techniques to isolate some of the culturable bacterial and fungal species. Our results suggest that the seedborne fungus Alternaria alternata is activated during the maturation stage of chilhuacle negro fruit, triggering a microbiome imbalance which may in turn enable the establishment of other opportunistic pathogenic fungi during fruit decay, such as Mucor sp. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the chilhuacle negro chili microbiome, which can shed some light on our understanding of one of the main diseases that affect this valuable crop.

Rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities of healthy and wilted pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in an organic farming system

“…In the rhizosphere of wilted plants, significant differences were shown in several fungal taxa, particularly in Fusarium and Thanatephorus genera. These genera have been reported to be the dominant fungal genera in rhizosphere soil chili pepper, and two of the main wilting agents (VELÁSQUEZ-VALLE et al, 2001;THAKUR & PAUL, 2013;PÉREZ-HERNÁNDEZ et al, 2014;BASHIR et al, 2018;FAJARDO-REBOLLAR et al, 2021). This increase Ciência Rural, v.53, n.7, 2023.…”

Attributes of Cyazofamid-Resistant Phytophthora litchii Mutants and Its Impact on Quality of Litchi Fruits

“…Pathological decay represents a significant contributor to fruit rot during storage and transportation. − Among the various pathogens capable of infecting litchi, including C. gloeosporioides, P.…”

Nutrición mineral del chilhuacle en tres etapas fenológicas

“…La formulación de soluciones nutritivas en cada etapa fenológica se realiza con la finalidad de aportar los nutrimentos necesarios para incrementar el crecimiento vegetal, rendimiento, calidad de los órganos de interés y en el caso de las hortalizas de fruto reducir el aborto floral (Moreno-Pérez et al, 2019). Las soluciones nutritivas no solo inducen a lograr el máximo potencial productivo en un cultivo (Luna-Fletes et al, 2021) o disminuir los daños que provocan la aparición de patógenos que afectan directamente la calidad comercial de los frutos (Fajardo et al, 2021), sino repercute en el desarrollo, rendimiento y calidad de los frutos (López-Gómez et al, 2017).…”