Killer Yeasts for the Biological Control of Postharvest Fungal Crop Diseases

Abstract

Every year and all over the world the fungal decay of fresh fruit and vegetables frequently generates substantial economic losses. Synthetic fungicides, traditionally used to efficiently combat the putrefactive agents, emerged, however, as the cause of environmental and human health issues. Given the need to seek for alternatives, several biological approaches were followed, among which those with killer yeasts stand out. Here, after the elaboration of the complex of problems, we explain the hitherto known yeast killer mechanisms and present the implementation of yeasts displaying such phenotype in biocontrol strategies for pre- or postharvest treatments to be aimed at combating postharvest fungal decay in numerous agricultural products.

Identification of Volatile Organic Compounds in Extremophilic Bacteria and Their Effective Use in Biocontrol of Postharvest Fungal Phytopathogens

“…Many fungal species of the most diverse genera have been reported to be associated with postharvest diseases in fruits and vegetables worldwide. These include Penicillium expansum , Penicillium italicum and Penicillium digitatum ( Cheng et al, 2020 ; Kanashiro et al, 2020 ; Yu et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020a ), Alternaria alternata ( Tozlu et al, 2018 ; Garganese et al, 2019 ), Phytophthora citrophthora ( Díaz et al, 2020 ) the necrotrophic pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea ( Fernando et al, 2005 ; Giorgio et al, 2015 ; Massawe et al, 2018 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ), Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ( Jin et al, 2020 ; Shi et al, 2021 ), various species belonging to the genus Fusarium ( Medina-Romero et al, 2017 ; Go et al, 2019 ; Lee et al, 2019 ) and the genus Monilinia , known to be the most important fungal pathogen to infect stone fruits ( Martini and Mari, 2014 ; Rungjindamai et al, 2014 ; Obi et al, 2018 ).…”

Native Cultivable Bacteria from the Blueberry Microbiome as Novel Potential Biocontrol Agents

“…In addition to a possible upcoming ban on artificially synthesized fungicides, the extensive use of chemical compounds in agriculture entails a number of disadvantages, such as the increasing public concern of their toxicity along with severe negative environmental impacts, the emergence of resistant phytopathogenic strains, and expectable trade barriers. Thus, emphasis was placed on the development of novel, sustainable, eco-friendly, and safe biocontrol technologies [ 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Application of Bioactive Coatings with Killer Yeasts to Control Post-Harvest Apple Decay Caused by Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium italicum

“…It was estimated that about a quarter of the strains isolated from the fruit showed a killer phenotype [26]. Numerous studies have confirmed that killer yeasts had a great potential as biocontrol agents and can protect fruit in both the pre-and post-harvest stages [27]. Killer yeast has also been used to control plant pathogens causing post-harvest diseases on fruits such as citrus, papaya, grape, stone fruit, and apple [23,[27][28][29][30].…”