Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.2
3.7
Journals
Agronomy
Special Issues
Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species
share announcement

Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural and Floricultural Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2023) | Viewed by 9562

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Bénédicte Quilot-Turion

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
INRAE, GAFL, Genetics and Breeding of Fruit and Vegetables Unit, F-84143 Montfavet, France
Interests: plant genetic resources; disease resistance; quantitative genetics; fruit biochemistry; Prunus species; genotype–phenotype modelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Among the plethora of pathogenic agents attacking Prunus crops (i.e., stone fruits and other Rosaceaeous), brown rot caused by Monilinia spp. is economically the most important disease. These fungi are able to infect various plant organs, causing blossom blight, twig blight, and rot in immature and mature fruits. Despite active work within research and breeding programs over recent decades, no resistant variety is currently available for production. The most efficient measure against these pathogens remains chemical control, in combination with prophylactic cultural practices. Due to the negative impacts of pesticides on the environment and on human health, several countries consider pesticide reduction a priority, becoming a major stake in public policies. In addition, climate change can alter plant phenology and pathogen biology, affect many aspects of disease development, lead to altered fungal species balance, infect new plant species and modify the geographical areas at risk. As a successful fight against Monilinia spp. consists of the combination of complementary approaches (plant resistance, biocontrol, cultural techniques, postharvest management), there is an urgent need to progress in parallel on all strategies allowing to control the disease. In this context, we need to join forces by sharing knowledge across disciplines in order to provide durable solutions against the pathogen.

For this Special Issue, we would like to invite reviews and original research papers on the latest research conducted on Monilinia on stone fruit species in any relevant discipline. This call is addressed to plant pathologists and epidemiologists, molecular biologists (incl. genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics), biochemists, plant physiologists and ecophysiologists, quantitative geneticists and evolutionary biologists, breeders and agronomists, and mathematical modelers focusing on pathogen biology and genetic diversity, disease epidemiology and risk forecast, mechanisms and evolution of host-pathogen interactions, innovative phenotyping methodologies, plant and fruit tolerance traits and genetic factors, breeding strategies, the use of wild crop relatives, biological control, agro-ecological cultural practices, redesigning cropping systems and post-harvest control.

Dr. Bénédicte Quilot-Turion
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fungal diversity
  • epidemiology
  • risk evaluation
  • plant-pathogen interaction
  • virulence mechanisms
  • disease resistance mechanisms
  • gene function
  • physical and biochemical defense of fruit and flower
  • plant diversity of genetic resources
  • breeding
  • prophylaxis
  • cultural practices/agro-ecology
  • biological control
  • postharvest control

Published Papers (6 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2664 KiB  
Article
Morphological, Molecular and Genomic Identification and Characterisation of Monilinia fructicola in Prunus persica from Portugal
by Elsa Baltazar, Sara Rodrigues, Aitana Ares, Alexandra Camelo, Inês Brandão, Christophe Espirito Santo, João Trovão, Eva Garcia and Joana Costa
Agronomy 2023, 13(6), 1493; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13061493 - 29 May 2023
Viewed by 2596
Abstract
In Portugal, the Cova da Beira region is well-known for the production of Prunus spp. and is considered the main peach production area in the country. In the spring of 2021 and 2022, field surveys in peach and nectarine orchards showed symptoms of [...] Read more.
In Portugal, the Cova da Beira region is well-known for the production of Prunus spp. and is considered the main peach production area in the country. In the spring of 2021 and 2022, field surveys in peach and nectarine orchards showed symptoms of decline such as cankers, gummosis, dry branches, abortion of flowers, mummified fruits and the partial or total death of some plants. Brown rot is caused by three species of the genus Monilinia, M. fructigena, M. laxa and M. fructicola, the last is an OEPP/EPPO A2 quarantine organism on peach trees. Brown rot disease had previously been described in the Cova da Beira region, however, the recent high mortality and severity of symptoms raised doubts as to the species involved. Symptomatic plant material was collected from thirteen orchards and used for fungal isolation and molecular detection according to the OEPP/EPPO standard. M. fructicola was confirmed morphologically and molecularly in two orchards, and molecularly (duplex real-time PCR) detected in two others. Whole genome sequencing using Oxford Nanopore MinION was also carried out to confirm the identification. Pathogenicity tests were performed on peach, nectarine and sweet cherry fruit according to Koch’s postulates. Based on all the results obtained, we report the first detection of M. fructicola in P. persica in Portugal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 610 KiB  
Article
Protecting Apricot Orchards with Rain Shelters Reduces Twig Blight Damage Caused by Monilinia spp. and Makes It Possible to Reduce Fungicide Use
by Laurent Brun, Freddy Combe, Christophe Gros, Pascal Walser and Marc Saudreau
Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1338; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051338 - 10 May 2023
Viewed by 977
Abstract
Blossom and twig blight, caused by Monilinia spp., is the main disease in apricot trees. In this study, we installed transparent rain shelters in apricot orchards to study their influence on the modification of the microclimate at the level of the tree canopy [...] Read more.
Blossom and twig blight, caused by Monilinia spp., is the main disease in apricot trees. In this study, we installed transparent rain shelters in apricot orchards to study their influence on the modification of the microclimate at the level of the tree canopy and on the reduction in moniliosis damage in twigs. Rain shelters significantly reduced the leaf wetness time measured within the foliage compared to the unsheltered trees (a reduction of between 43% and 67%). However, very few differences were observed in the daily averaged air temperature (up to 6%) and daily averaged air relative humidity (up to 1%). In the first experiment, on the apricot variety Bergarouge® (CEP Innovation, Lyon, France), moniliosis damage on twigs in the absence of phytosanitary protection was reduced by up to 62% for the trees provided with rain protection compared to the trees that did not receive rain shelters. A second experiment, involving five apricot tree varieties, made it possible to verify that fungicide protection could be reduced for the trees protected by rain covers, reducing moniliosis damage on twigs compared to full fungicide protection combined without rain protection. Finally, a third experiment comprising two apricot tree varieties has shown that in organic orchards, rain protection provides protection against moniliosis (twig blight) that is equivalent to an organic farming fungicide protection programme based on the use of copper sulphate and calcium polysulphide. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 4413 KiB  
Article
Influence of Fruit Wounding on Subsequent Monilinia laxa Infection of Nectarines
by Maximiliano Dini, Maria do Carmo Bassols Raseira, Marie-Noëlle Corre, Véronique Signoret and Bénédicte Quilot-Turion
Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1235; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051235 - 27 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1031
Abstract
Despite the fact that brown rot is the most economically important disease in stone fruits, the relationship between mechanical stress and infection has never been explored. Thus, to explore this connection, we carried out four experiments linking nectarine wounding and M. laxa infection. [...] Read more.
Despite the fact that brown rot is the most economically important disease in stone fruits, the relationship between mechanical stress and infection has never been explored. Thus, to explore this connection, we carried out four experiments linking nectarine wounding and M. laxa infection. First, we evaluated a possible systemic reaction of the fruit to wounding that could impact the M. laxa infection. Afterward, we study the impact of the fruit in the environment on M. laxa colonies grown in vitro. Subsequently, we tested the disease susceptibility of fruits inoculated with M. laxa placed in the same environment as wounded fruits. Finally, in the fourth experiment, the effect of wounding on the subsequent fruit infections was evaluated at three fruit stages. As a result, we observed that there was no evidence of a fruit systemic reaction to wounding and M. laxa infection. In the study related to the impact of the fruit in the environment of M. laxa, the findings suggest that M. laxa “perceived” the fruit’s presence, resulting in accelerated in vitro growth. Moreover, the presence of wounded fruits in the box increased the susceptibility to brown rot. Inoculated fruits showed a delayed and reduced infection 7 h after being wounded, during the second stage of fruit development (15–19 weeks after full bloom). Moreover, a red reaction associated with inoculation was detected immediately after the fruits were wounded. Nine phenolic compounds exclusively related to the red areas were extracted, while six other compounds were present in higher proportions. These compounds may be actively involved in plant–pathogen interactions and the activation of metabolic pathways involved in nectarine susceptibility/resistance to M. laxa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 5063 KiB  
Article
Validation of a Warning System to Control Brown Rot in Peach and Nectarine
by Carla Casals, Joan Segarra, Rosario Torres, Neus Teixidó, Antonieta De Cal and Josep Usall
Agronomy 2023, 13(1), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13010254 - 14 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1527
Abstract
Monilinia spp. is the main pathogen that affects stone fruit, causing significant production losses, especially in seasons with favorable climatic conditions for disease development. Currently, the standard practices for controlling this disease are by means of spray programs of synthetic fungicides. Fungicide applications [...] Read more.
Monilinia spp. is the main pathogen that affects stone fruit, causing significant production losses, especially in seasons with favorable climatic conditions for disease development. Currently, the standard practices for controlling this disease are by means of spray programs of synthetic fungicides. Fungicide applications using treatment schedules imply an increase in the number of applications; however, the applications are justified considering the real risk of Monilinia spp. infection. Consequently, fruit surface contains a higher number and concentration of residues, but not better control of the disease. From previous studies, the epidemiology of Monilinia spp. was deeply studied in one of the main stone fruit regions of Europe, the ‘Valle del Ebro’, and an epidemiological model was developed to describe the brown rot epidemic pattern in this area. After that, a warning system for fungicide applications in the field was elaborated that included the main factors to be considered as fruit susceptibility, the presence of inoculum in the field, and climatological factors (temperature, leaf wetness, rainfall, or their interaction). In the present study, we present data of the warning system validation during six seasons in 38 fields of peaches and nectarines of the ‘Valle del Ebro’. The results indicated that the incidence of disease caused by Monilinia spp., recorded in the field and postharvest, was similar in both plot evaluations and the calendar and warning systems. However, the disease level was higher in late varieties (3.2% and 9.3% of infected fruit recorded in the field and in postharvest, respectively) in comparison with earlier varieties (0.6% and 3.1% of infected fruit recorded in the field and in postharvest, respectively). In general, the strategy applied (the calendar or warning system) did not affect the disease level recorded. However, when fungicide treatments were applied following the warning system, the treatment reductions were higher than 50% in 96% of the trials in early varieties; meanwhile, in late varieties, this level of reduction was obtained in 77% of trials. Our data encourage the use of the proposed warning system as an effective strategy to control Monilinia spp. in peaches and nectarines, reducing the number of chemical treatments applied in the field with a high level of efficacy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 905 KiB  
Article
Identification of ‘Calanda’-Type Peach Genotypes Tolerant to Monilinia laxa (Aderh. & Ruhland) Honey
by Joaquín Montenegro, Vitus Ikechukwu Obi, Juan Jose Barriuso and Yolanda Gogorcena
Agronomy 2022, 12(11), 2662; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12112662 - 27 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1524
Abstract
One of the diseases that has the greatest negative effect on peach production is brown rot, produced by the fungus, Monilinia spp. The way to diminish this disease is the selection of genotypes with a high tolerance to Monilinia spp. while maintaining fruit [...] Read more.
One of the diseases that has the greatest negative effect on peach production is brown rot, produced by the fungus, Monilinia spp. The way to diminish this disease is the selection of genotypes with a high tolerance to Monilinia spp. while maintaining fruit quality. In this study, the tolerance to Monilinia laxa and agronomic and biochemical characteristics of forty-two hybrids derived from the ‘Andross’ × ‘Calante’ cross were studied under controlled conditions during two consecutive years, and compared with their parents. The assessment of tolerance to brown rot was estimated on inoculated fruit with M. laxa, recording the incidence of brown rot and colonization, lesion diameter and extent of colonization, to establish the severity of incidence and colonization. At harvest, physicochemical traits and antioxidant compounds (vitamin C, total phenolics, flavonoids and relative antioxidant capacity) were determined. We have found inverse relationships between fruit firmness, pH, titratable acidity and antioxidant contents with the disease symptoms in fruit. Our results confirm that the accumulation of antioxidants tends to reduce the lesion and colonization in inoculated fruit. Principal component analysis allowed the selection of two genotypes, AC-24 and AC-93, of ‘Calanda’-type peaches with a known standard quality, high antioxidant content and minimal susceptibility to brown rot. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 1907 KiB  
Article
Breeding Peaches for Brown Rot Resistance in Embrapa
by Maximiliano Dini, Maria do Carmo Bassols Raseira, Silvia Scariotto and Bernardo Ueno
Agronomy 2022, 12(10), 2306; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12102306 - 26 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1160
Abstract
Brown rot, caused by Monilinia spp., is the main stone fruit disease. Major efforts to detect sources of resistance are being applied by several breeding programs worldwide. The main objective of this study was to seek sources of brown rot resistance, as well [...] Read more.
Brown rot, caused by Monilinia spp., is the main stone fruit disease. Major efforts to detect sources of resistance are being applied by several breeding programs worldwide. The main objective of this study was to seek sources of brown rot resistance, as well as to study the segregation, estimate the heritability, verify the possible existence of the maternal effect, and estimate the genetic advances. For this purpose, 20 parents and 303 seedlings, representing 16 breeding families, and ‘Bolinha’ (control) have been phenotyped for fruit reaction to brown rot using wounded and non-wounded inoculation procedures in 2015–2016, 2016–2017, and 2017–2018 growing seasons. Wounded fruits were very susceptible to brown rot incidence, however, the incidence and severity of non-wounded fruits showed high variability among the evaluated genotypes. Conserva 947 and Conserva 1600 and their progeny, had lower disease incidence and severity than most of the evaluated genotypes. Genetic gain estimation was −5.2 to −30.2% (wounded fruits) and between −15.0 to −25.0% (non-wounded fruits) for brown rot resistance. Selected genotypes were equal to or better than ‘Bolinha’ in relation to brown rot resistance, with several of them far superior in fruit quality than ‘Bolinha’, demonstrating the progress of the Embrapa Peach Breeding Program. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monilinia on Stone Fruit Species)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-6
Back to TopTop