Control of postharvest radish decay using a Cryptococcus albidus yeast coating formulation

Abstract

An antagonist yeast strain, WY-1, was identified using 18S and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA region sequences. The 18S and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequences of this yeast strain were amplified and sequenced using the universal primer pairs NS1/NS8 and ITS4/ITS5. The ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequence and 18S neighbor-joining tree showed that WY-1 was a strain of Cryptococcus albidus. The biocontrol activity of C. albidus WY-1 on postharvest decay of radishes caused by Alternaria spp. and Fusarium spp. was investigated. In vitro, at 108 CFU ml−1C. albidus WY-1 inhibited the mycelial weight increases of Alternaria spp. and Fusarium spp. by 45.3% and 59.6%, respectively. In vivo, infection incidence and lesion development of radish decay were suppressed by the application of C. albidus WY-1 at 108 CFU ml−1. After 6 days of incubation at 20 °C or 24 days at 4 °C, disease incidences were 2.8% and 1.4%, respectively; however, the disease incidences of control fruit were 98.6% and 87.5% under these incubation conditions, respectively. Application of C. albidus WY-1 and the chemical fungicide thiabendazole were statistically just as effective. Finally, C. albidus cell counts around inoculation sites remained high at 4 °C even 32 days after inoculation (6.7 × 105 CFU per cm2).