Abstract
Botrytis cinerea is one of the most destructive fungal pathogens causing tremendous losses in fresh fruit or vegetables. 3-Methylthio-1-propanol (3-MP) is a naturally occurring food-borne sulfide, which is mainly used to increase the flavor in food. However, the potential application of 3-MP in the postharvest phase to manage fruit fungal diseases has not been explored. In this study, the antifungal activity of 3-MP against B. cinerea was evaluated, and the possible mechanism involved was explored. In vitro 3-MP treatment could effectively inhibit the mycelial growth, spore germination, and germ tube elongation of B. cinerea. 3-MP also impaired the spore viability and membrane integrity of B. cinerea as well as increased the leakage of nucleic acids, proteins, and malondialdehyde (MDA) in B. cinerea. In vivo 3-MP fumigation treatment inhibited the infection of B. cinerea on tomato fruits. Also, the fruits with 3-MP fumigation treatment exhibited higher antioxidant enzyme activity, lower MDA content, and a significant delay of induction of the expression of most of the stress-related genes when compared to the control group. Moreover, a cytotoxicity evaluation revealed that 3-MP had no toxicity to normal cells in a certain concentration range. Collectively, our research results will provide evidence for the development of food-borne sulfide 3-MP as a fungicide in food and agriculture and will provide an important reference for the formulation of B. cinerea biocontrol strategies.
Highlights
Botrytis cinerea is one of the most serious and widespread postharvest pathogens of much fresh fruit, vegetables, and ornamentals (Chaouachi et al, 2021)
We demonstrated that 3-MP has excellent antifungal activity against B. cinerea by using in vitro and in vivo experiments, and further study showed 3-MP can affect the infection and growth of B. cinerea, as well as the defense systems of tomato fruit
Our study revealed the excellent antifungal roles of sulfurcontaining spice compound 3-MP in both in vitro and in vivo conditions
Summary
Botrytis cinerea is one of the most serious and widespread postharvest pathogens of much fresh fruit, vegetables, and ornamentals (Chaouachi et al, 2021). Botrytis cinerea is recognized as a “high-risk” pathogen for its characteristics of the short life cycle, high reproduction, and genetic variation, which are not beneficial for maintaining the resistance of fungicides (Haidar et al, 2016; Saito et al, 2019). Many hazards or risks have been caused by the excessive application of chemical fungicides, mainly such as pollution of the environment, food safety threats, and the production of fungal-resistant strains (Tian et al, 2016; Morita et al, 2019; Liu X. et al, 2020). There is an urgent need for safe bioderived antimicrobial agents to control B. cinerea and reduce the loss of postharvest fruit
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