Ecology, Population Dynamics and Genetic Diversity of Epiphytic Yeast Antagonists of Postharvest Diseases of Fruits
Authors: Droby Samir , Eckert Joseph W. , Manulis Shulamit , Mehra Rajesh K. 
Published: December 2021

One of the emerging technologies is the use of microbial agents for the control of postharvest diseases of fruits and vegetables. A number of antagonistic microorganisms have been discovered which have the potential to effectively control postharvest diseases. Some of this technology has been patented and commercial products such as AspireTM (Ecogen Corporatin, Langhorne, PA, USA), Biosave 10TM and Biosave 11TM (Ecoscience Inc., Worchester, MA, USA) have been registered for commercial use. The principal investigator of this project was involved in developing the yeast-based biofungicide-AspireTM and testing its efficacy under commercial conditions. This research project was initiated to fill the gap between the knowledge available on development and commercial implementation of yeast biocontrol agents and basic understanding of various aspects related to introducing yeast antagonists to fruit surfaces, along with verification of population genetics. The main objectives of this study were: Study ecology, population dynamics and genetic diversity of the yeast antagonists Candida guilliermondii, C. oleophila, and Debaryomyces hansenii, and study the effect of preharvest application of the yeast antagonist C. oleophila naturally occurring epiphytic microbial population and on the development of postharvest diseases of citrus fruit during storage. Our findings, which were detailed in several publications, have shown that an epiphytic yeast population of grapefruit able to grow under high osmotic conditions and a wide range of temperatures was isolated and characterized for its biocontrol activity against green mold decay caused by Penicillium digitatum. Techniques based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and arbitrary primed polymerase chain reaction (ap-PCR), as well as homologies between sequences of the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and 5.8S gene, were used to characterize the composition of the yeast population and to determine the genetic relationship among predominant yeast species. Epiphytic yeasts exhibiting the highest biocontrol activity against P. digitatum on grapefruit were identified as Candida guilliermondii, C. oleophila, C. sake, and Debaryomyces hansenii, while C. guilliermondii was the most predominant species. RAPD and ap-PCR analysis of the osmotolerant yeast population showed two different, major groups. The sequences of the ITS regions and the 5.8S gene of the yeast isolates, previously identified as belonging to different species, were found to be identical. Following the need to develop a genetically marked strain of the yeast C. oleophila, to be used in population dynamics studies, a transformation system for the yeast was developed. Histidine auxotrophy of C. oloephila produced using ethyl methanesulfonate were transformed with plasmids containing HIS3, HIS4 and HIS5 genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In one mutant histidin auxotrophy was complemented by the HIS5 gene of S. cerevisiae is functionally homologous to the HIS5 gene in V. oleophila. Southern blot analysis showed that the plasmid containing the S. cerevisiae HIS5 gene was integrated at a different location every C. oleophila HIS+ transformant. There were no detectable physiological differences between C. oleophila strain I-182 and the transformants. The biological control ability of C. oleophila was not affected by the transformation. A genetically marked (with b-glucuronidase gene) transformant of C. oleophila colonized wounds on orange fruits and its population increased under field conditions. Effect of preharvest application of the yeast C. oleophila on population dynamics of epiphytic microbial population on wounded and unwounded grapefruit surface in the orchard and after harvest was also studied. In addition, the effect of preharvest application of the yeast C. oleophila on the development of postharvest decay was evaluated. Population studies conducted in the orchard showed that in control, non-treated fruit, colonization of wounded and unwounded grapefruit surface by naturally occurring filamentous fungi did not vary throughout the incubation period on the tree. On the other hand, colonization of intact and wounded fruit surface by naturally occurring yeasts was different. Yeasts colonized wounded surface rapidly and increased in numbers to about two orders of magnitude as compared to unwounded surface. On fruit treated with the yeast and kept on the tree, a different picture of fungal and yeast population had emerged. The detected fungal population on the yeast-treated intact surface was dramatically reduced and in treated wounds no fungi was detected. Yeast population on intact surface was relatively high immediately after the application of AspireTM and decreased to than 70% of that detected initially. In wounds, yeast population increased from 2.5 x 104 to about 4x106 after 72 hours of incubation at 20oC. Results of tests conducted to evaluate the effect of preharvest application of AspireTM on the development of postharvest decay indicated the validity of the approach.