Postharvest Rot of Pomegranate Fruit in Southern Italy: Characterization of the Main Pathogens

Abstract

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an emerging crop in Italy and particularly in southern regions, such as Apulia, Basilicata, and Sicily, due to favorable climatic conditions. The crop is affected by several pathogenic fungi, primarily in the field, but also during postharvest phases. The most important postharvest fungal diseases in pomegranate are gray and blue molds, black heart and black spot, anthracnose, dry rot, and various soft rots. The limited number of fungicides allowed for treatment in the field and the lack of postharvest fungicides make it difficult to control latent, quiescent, and incipient fungal infections. Symptomatic pomegranates from southern Italy were sampled and isolated fungi were morphologically and molecularly characterized. The data obtained revealed that various species of Penicillium sensu lato (including Talaromyces genus), Alternaria spp., Coniella granati, and Botrytis cinerea were the principal etiological agents of postharvest pomegranate fruit diseases; other relevant pathogens, although less represented, were ascribable to Aspergillus sect. nigri, Colletotrichum acutatum sensu stricto, and Cytospora punicae. About two thirds of the isolated pathogens were responsible for latent infections. The results obtained may be useful in planning phytosanitary control strategies from the field to storage, so as to reduce yield losses.

Characterization of Alternaria and Colletotrichum Species Associated with Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) in Maharashtra State of India

“…Moreover, a number of species of Alternaria , including A. solani , have been reported to infect pomegranate [ 22 , 28 , 60 ]; however, many of these species were not represented among the isolates characterized in the current study. Alternaria species, due to their high adaptivity to different environmental conditions, can infect pomegranate fruits in both pre- and post-harvest stages [ 61 ]; they produce toxins which are important for their virulence and may contaminate fruits and the products processed downstream [ 22 ]. Moreover, some species, such as A. gaisen , are quarantine pathogens imposing export restrictions, and therefore accurate identification of Alternaria species also has toxicological and phytosanitary implications.…”

Isolation of Main Pathogens Causing Postharvest Disease in Fresh Codonopsis pilosula during Different Storage Stages and Ozone Control against Disease and Mycotoxin Accumulation

“…Hyphae were flocculent or villous and denser ( Figure 2 E), the conidia were elongated oval and slightly pointed at both ends ( Figure 3 E), which was consistent with the morphology of F. oxysporum isolated from sesame plants. Previous study revealed that Fusarium species is attributed to “latent infected pathogen” [ 38 ], the infection of Fusarium usually occur in the field (growth stage of plants) during the blooming or heading of plants. The spores adhere to the surface of the leaf, then transported into the calyx, finally colonize on the root of plants, and remain in a latent status until there are favorable environmental conditions (such as high temperature and humidity) [ 39 ].…”

Morphological and Molecular Identification of Fusarium ipomoeae as the Causative Agent of Leaf Spot Disease in Tobacco from China

“…For fungal isolation, the diseased tissues were cut into several small segments and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA, Difcohai) at 25 °C in darkness for 3 to 5 days. To obtain pure cultures, hyphal tips from developed colonies were transferred to fresh PDA plates three times [ 10 ]. The isolates were inoculated to PDA test tube slants and stored at 4 °C [ 11 ].…”