Effect of Ethanol Vapor Treatment on the Growth of Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea and Defense-Related Enzymes of Fungi-Inoculated Blueberry During Storage

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of ethanol vapor on the inhibition of Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea in postharvest blueberry and the induction of defense-related enzymes (DREs) activities in fungi-inoculated blueberries stored at 0±0.5°C for 16days. Results indicated that ethanol vapor markedly inhibited the mycelial growth of A. alternata and B. cinerea in a dose-dependent manner, with inhibition rates of 9.1% (250μlL−1), 36.4% (500μlL−1), and 5.5% (1,000μlL−1) on A. alternata and 14.2% (250μlL−1), 44.7% (500μlL−1), and 76.6% (1,000μlL−1) on B. cinerea, respectively. Meanwhile, ethanol vapor also enhanced the activities of DREs in fungi-inoculated blueberries, including β-1,3-glucanase (GLU), chitinase (CHI), phenylalnine ammonialyase (PAL), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO). In particular, 500μlL−1 ethanol vapor increased the activities of DREs by 84.7% (GLU), 88.0% (CHI), 37.9% (PAL), 85.5% (POD), and 247.0% (PPO) in A. alternata-inoculated blueberries and 103.8% (GLU), 271.1% (CHI), 41.1% (PAL), 148.3% (POD), and 74.4% (PPO) in B. cinerea-inoculated blueberries, respectively. But, the activity of PPO was decreased by 55.2 and 31.9% in 500μlL−1 ethanol-treated blueberries inoculated with A. alternata and B. cinerea, respectively, after 8days of storage. Moreover, the surface structure and ultrastructure of 500μlL−1 ethanol-treated blueberry fruit cells were more integrated than those of other treatments. The findings of the present study suggest that ethanol could be used as an activator of defense responses in blueberry against Alternaria and Botrytis rots, by activating DREs, having practical application value in the preservation of postharvest fruit and vegetables.

Melatonin Enhances the Postharvest Disease Resistance of Blueberries Fruit by Modulating the Jasmonic Acid Signaling Pathway and Phenylpropanoid Metabolites

“…A wide range of microbial pathogens can cause the postharvest rot of blueberries, mainly Alternaria alternata , Botrytis cinerea , and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ( Wang et al, 2010 ). Recently, it has been reported that exogenous substances such as ethanol ( Ji Y. et al, 2021 ), natamycin ( Saito et al, 2022 ), sodium nitroprusside ( Ge et al, 2019 ), and jasmonic acid methyl ester ( Wang et al, 2020a ) can minimize the postharvest rot of blueberries. The effects of these substances are mainly attributed to the inhibition of the growth of microbial pathogens via their action as fungicides or to the induction of disease resistance in fruits via their action as exogenous inducers.…”

The apple FERONIA receptor‐like kinase MdMRLK2 negatively regulates Valsa canker resistance by suppressing defence responses and hypersensitive reaction

“…CHT degrades chitin, which is the major component of fungal pathogen cell walls. GLU, one of the most fully characterized pathogenesis‐related proteins, also acts indirectly by releasing an oligosaccharide and eliciting defence reactions, then acting synergistically with CHT to inhibit fungal growth (Ji et al, 2021). Here, PAL, GLU, and CHT activities were all induced by V .…”

“…Phytopathogenic microorganisms are common in nature and pose a constant threat to plants. Nonetheless, plants rarely become infected and develop disease; a multilayered innate immune system protects them from most pathogens (Johansson et al, 2015). To cope with pathogens, infected plants may deploy a rapid and strong defensive response called the hypersensitive reaction (HR) (Balint-Kurti, 2019).…”

Alternaria as an Inducer of Allergic Sensitization

“…The genus Alternaria is comprised of more than 350 species which may be saprophytic, endophytic, or even pathogenic in nature [ 14 ]. This wide range of action is partly due to the ability of Alternaria to survive in low nutrient media and temperatures ranging from −3 to 35 °C [ 15 ]. Its presence has been described in countries in the temperate zone of the planet, such as China, Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand [ 16 , 17 ], although there are few data from Africa [ 18 ].…”