Planf Dis. 96:458, 2012; published online as http://dx.doi.org/I0.1094/PDlS-07-ll-0620. Accepted for publicafion 10 December 2011.In June 2011, sympfoms of posfbarvest rot were observed on approximafely 3% of all cherries collected from commercial orchards of culfivars Lapen and Ferrovia in fbe prefectures of Imathia and Pella (northern Greece). Fruif were harvesfed in a timely manner fo avoid overripeness. No wounds or ofher predisposing injuries were observed on the infected fruits. Lesions enlarged rapidly and separated easily from healfhy fissue when pressure was applied. Infecfed fissues were pale and wafer soaked and fhe associafed fungal spores were dark and powdery and easily liberated when mature. The fungus grew rapidly and produced black colonies on acidified pofafo dexfrose agar (2.5 ml of 85% lacfic acid per lifer of nufrienf medium) affer 5 days at 24°C. Identification of fhe pafhogen was based on morphological characferistics (1). Tbe conidial head was radiate, vesicles were nearly spherical and covered with metulae and phialides (biseriafe). Conidia were globose (3 fo 5 pm in diamefer) and usually very rough with irregular ridges, bars, and verrueae. Koch's posfulafes were completed in fhe laborafory by inoculating mature cherry fruifs (cv. Lapen). The fruifs were surface sferilized by dipping in 10% chloride bleach solufion, allowed to dry in a laminar flow hood, and wounded wifh a sharp glass rod fhaf was 2 mm in diamefer. A 40-|al drop of a suspension confaining 20,000 conidia per ml of water was placed on eacb wound. There were 20 inoculated and 20 confrol fruits (similarly wounded and inoculated with a 40-nl drop of sterile disfilled wafer) in a randomized design and incubafed af 24 fo 26°C for 6 days. Koch's posfulafes were satisfied after reisolafing the fungus from inoculafed fruif that developed symptoms similar to those observed on fruif collecfed from orchards. Confrol fruifs did nof show any sympfom of the disease. To our knowledge, this is fbe firsf reporf of the occurrence of Aspergillus niger as the causal agenf of postharvest rots of cherries in Greece. Posfharvest fruif rofs caused by A. niger have been reported in cherry orchards of other countries around the world (2). Because fhis disease causes postharvesf rots of cherry fruits, measures may need to be implemented to manage the pathogen.

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Intercropping is widely used in agricultural production due to its capability of raising land productivity and providing an opportunity to achieve sustainable intensification of agriculture. In this study, soil samples from 10 to 20 cm depth of intercropping Pinto peanut in litchi orchard and litchi monoculture mode were established to determine soil attributes, enzyme activities, as well as the effect on soil bacterial diversity. On this basis, 16S rRNA V4-V5 region of soil bacterial communities in litchi/Pinto peanut intercropping (LP) mode and litchi monoculture mode (CK) was detected by the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. The results showed that the content of available potassium (AK) in LP was significantly higher than that in CK by 138.9%, and the content of available nitrogen (AN) in LP was significantly lower than that in CK by 19.6%. The soil enzyme activities were higher in LP as a whole, especially sucrase (SC) and acid protease (PT) were significantly higher by 154.4 and 76.5%, respectively. The absolute abundance and alpha diversity of soil microbiota were significantly higher in the intercropping group. Most importantly, endemic species with a significant difference in LP was higher by ~60 times compared to CK treatment. In the aspect of soil bacterial community structure, the dominant phyla of the two groups were Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Actinobacteria. At the genus level, the absolute abundance of Flavobacterium and Nitrososphaera was significantly higher by 79.20 and 72.93%, respectively, while that of Candidatus_Koribacter was significantly lower with an amplitude of 62.24% in LP than in CK. Furthermore, the redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested that AK, which was highly associated with the dominant genera and phyla, is the vitally dominating environmental factors in LP groups, while in CK groups, it is AN and pH. In addition, PICRUSt2 analysis indicated that intercropping improved the metabolic activity of bacteria which can be correlated to the resistance of litchi root systems to soil-borne diseases. Overall, this study is expected to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for the healthy intercropping cultivation of litchi.

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