A Novel Penicillium sp. Causes Rot in Stored Sugar Beet Roots in Idaho

Abstract

Penicillium vulpinum along with a number of other fungi can lead to rot of stored sugar beet roots. However, Penicillium isolates associated with necrotic lesions on roots from a recent sugar beet storage study were determined to be different from P. vulpinum and other recognized Penicillium species. Phylogenies based on sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-5.8S, b-tubulin (BenA), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) DNA regions indicate that these isolates are novel, but most closely related to the following Penicillium spp. in the section Fasiculata: P. aurantiogriseum, P. camemberti, and P. freii. Macro-and micromorphological data also support designating these isolates as a new species for which we propose the name, Penicillium cellarum sp. nov. Inoculation studies with the P. cellarum isolates on roots of the commercial sugar beet cultivar B-7 led to the formation of necrotic lesions 23 to 25 mm in diameter after 86 days in storage. These lesions were similar to those observed on sugar beet roots in commercial storage piles. These data indicate that P. cellarum is a pathogen which can cause root rot in stored sugar beet roots.Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) roots are frequently stored under ambient conditions in the United States in production areas other than the Red River Valley and California (Bugbee 1993). In Idaho, which is second in sugar beet production (USDA-NASS) in the United States, approximately two-thirds of the crop is held under ambient storage conditions from October until late March when factory processing is finished (Huff 2013;Peterson et al. 1984;Strausbaugh et al. 2008). At harvest, roots are topped and handled roughly when loaded into trucks and piles, making them susceptible to injury and increased respiration and microbial invasion (Bugbee 1993;Wyse and Peterson 1979). If weather conditions are unfavorable, such as widely fluctuating temperatures and wet conditions, microbial growth can be enhanced (Bugbee 1982(Bugbee , 1993Strausbaugh et al. 2008Strausbaugh et al. , 2011Wyse 1978). Bacterial rot has been documented to be caused by Leuconostoc, while fungal invasion can be attributed to a number of causal agents including an Athelia-like basidiomycete, Botrytis cinerea Pers., Penicillium vulpinum (Cooke & Massee) Seifert & Samson (syn. P. claviformae Bainer), and Phoma betae A. B. Frank (Bugbee 1982;Bugbee and Cole 1976;Campbell and Bugbee 1993;Liebe and Varrelmann 2014;Miles et al. 1977;Mumford and Wyse 1976;Nihlgård et al. 2009;Strausbaugh et al. 2009Strausbaugh et al. , 2015Toda et al. 2012).Penicillium storage rot is normally associated with wounds and historically attributed to P. vulpinum (Bugbee 1975(Bugbee , 1976(Bugbee , 1993Fugate and Campbell 2009 Samson et al. 2011;Visagie et al. 2014). Penicillium roqueforti Thom and P. paneum have also been isolated from ensiled hard-pressed beet fibers (Boysen et al. 2000). Recently Penicillium isolates from lesions on sugar beet roots in Idaho differed from previously acknowledged species based on p...

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Retracted: First report of Talaromyces pinophilus causing postharvest rot of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) in Minnesota, USA

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