Khoury Elie, Abou Fayad Antoine, Karam Sarkis Dolla, Fahs Hala, Gunsalus Kristin C, Kallassy Awad Mireille
Laboratory of Biodiversity and Functional Genomics, UR EGP, Faculty of Science, Université Saint- Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut, B.P. 11-514, Riad El Solh, Beirut, 1107 2050, Lebanon.
Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Curr Microbiol. 2021 Apr;78(4):1388-1398. doi: 10.1007/s00284-021-02397-w. Epub 2021 Mar 1.
The widespread use of harmful fungicides in the agricultural sector has led to a demand for safer alternatives to protect against crop pathogens. The domestic apple is the second most highly consumed fruit in the world and encounters several pre- and post-harvest fungal and bacterial phytopathogens. The goal of this study was to explore the uncharacterized microbiome of a wild apple, Malus trilobata, as a potential source of novel biocontrol agents for two post-harvest fungi that affect commercial apples: Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum. We sampled microflora associated with the leaves, bulk soil, and roots of Malus trilobata in two regions of Lebanon: Ehden reserve in the north and Dhour EL Choueir near Beirut. The two regions have different soil types Dhour EL Choueir and samples from the two regions showed very different microbial compositions, with greater microbial diversity among those from Ehden reserve. Molecular characterization revealed a wide variety of genera displaying activity against the two fungal pathogens, including several with previously unknown antifungal activity: Bosea, Microlunatus, Microbacterium, Mycetecola, Rhizobium and Paraphoma. In total, 92 strains inhibited Penicillium expansum (39%) and 87 strains inhibited Botrytis cinerea (38%) out of 237 screened. Further chemical and genetic characterization of one or more selected strains could pave the way for future development of new biocontrol agents for post-harvest applications.
农业领域广泛使用有害杀菌剂，这使得人们需要更安全的替代品来防治作物病原体。国产苹果是世界上第二大消费水果，在收获前和收获后会遭遇多种真菌和细菌类植物病原体。本研究的目的是探索野生苹果三叶海棠未被描述的微生物群落，将其作为两种影响商业苹果的采后真菌（灰葡萄孢菌和扩展青霉）新型生物防治剂的潜在来源。我们在黎巴嫩的两个地区采集了与三叶海棠叶片、土壤和根系相关的微生物群落样本：北部的埃登保护区和贝鲁特附近的朱韦尔山。这两个地区土壤类型不同，来自这两个地区的样本显示出非常不同的微生物组成，埃登保护区的样本微生物多样性更高。分子特征分析揭示了多种对这两种真菌病原体具有活性的属，包括几种具有此前未知抗真菌活性的属：博斯氏菌属、微小月菌属、微杆菌属、菌栖菌属、根瘤菌属和拟茎点霉属。在筛选的237株菌株中，共有92株（39%）抑制扩展青霉，87株（38%）抑制灰葡萄孢菌。对一种或多种选定菌株进行进一步化学和基因特征分析，可能为未来开发用于采后应用的新型生物防治剂铺平道路。
