Advances in Disease Diagnostics and Pathogen Biocontrol of Horticulture Crops

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Pathology and Disease Management (PPDM)".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2024 | Viewed by 6786

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Facultad de Ciencias Agrotecnológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Escorza 900, Col. Centro, Chihuahua 31000, Mexico
Interests: plant pathogen detection; nanobiosensors; next-generation sequencing technology; biocontrol strategies; reprogramming of plant defense; biocontrol agents; plant pathogens; emerging pathogens; quarantined pathogens

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Guest Editor
Coordination of Food Sciences, Research Center for Food and Development (CIAD), Hermosillo 83304, Sonora, Mexico
Interests: plant biotechnology; horticulture; phytochemistry; abiotic stress; plant pathology; plant biology; plant physiology; plant genomics; plant defense; plant molecular biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disease diagnosis and pathogen biocontrol are among the most important agricultural issues with regard to food safety. It is so important that the UN included zero hunger as a Sustainable Development Goal in the 2030 Agenda. The process of disease diagnosis has undergone great changes due to the use of new sensitive and precise technologies that help us identify emerging diseases in crops in a short time. The purpose of this Special Issue, "Advances in Disease Diagnostics and Pathogen Biocontrol of Horticulture Crops", is to present innovative plant disease diagnostic and biocontrol studies, tools, approaches and techniques that have been successfully applied in food production. We are looking for the most innovative, precise and rapid methods and equipment for the diagnosis of phytopathogens in the laboratory and in the field. We will also accept papers that address various biocontrol mechanisms and the most promising agents for the control of phytopathogens in order to ensure the production of high-quality, nutritious foods.

Dr. Graciela Dolores Ávila-Quezada
Prof. Dr. Irasema Vargas-Arispuro
Guest Editors

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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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

  • plant pathogen detection
  • nanobiosensors
  • new-generation sequencing technology
  • biocontrol strategies
  • reprogramming of plant defense
  • biocontrol agents
  • plant pathogens
  • emerging pathogens, quarantined pathogens

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2863 KiB  
Communication
Molecular Characteristics and Biological Properties of Bean Yellow Mosaic Virus Isolates from Slovakia
by Michaela Mrkvová, Jana Kemenczeiová, Adam Achs, Peter Alaxin, Lukáš Predajňa, Katarína Šoltys, Zdeno Šubr and Miroslav Glasa
Horticulturae 2024, 10(3), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10030262 - 10 Mar 2024
Viewed by 831
Abstract
Analysis of the viromes of three symptomatic Fabaceae plants, i.e., red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), using high-throughput sequencing revealed complex infections and enabled the acquisition of complete genomes of a [...] Read more.
Analysis of the viromes of three symptomatic Fabaceae plants, i.e., red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), using high-throughput sequencing revealed complex infections and enabled the acquisition of complete genomes of a potyvirus, bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV). Based on phylogenetic analysis, the Slovak BYMV isolates belong to two distinct molecular groups, i.e., VI (isolate FA40) and XI (isolates DAT, PS2). Five commercial pea genotypes (Alderman, Ambrosia, Gloriosa, Herkules, Senator) were successfully infected with the BYMV-PS2 inoculum and displayed similar systemic chlorotic mottling symptoms. Relative comparison of optical density values using semi-quantitative DAS-ELISA revealed significant differences among virus titers in one of the infected pea genotypes (Ambrosia) when upper fully developed leaves were tested. Immunoblot analysis of systemically infected Alderman plants showed rather uneven virus accumulation in different plant parts. The lowest virus accumulation was repeatedly detected in the roots, while the highest was in the upper part of the plant stem. Full article
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16 pages, 4541 KiB  
Article
Biocontrol Potential of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against Strawberry Root Rot Disease
by Ping Liu, Ruixian Yang, Zuhua Wang, Yinhao Ma, Weiguang Ren, Daowei Wei and Wenyu Ye
Horticulturae 2024, 10(3), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10030246 - 03 Mar 2024
Viewed by 868
Abstract
Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberries and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. Currently, the only accessible control methods are fungicide sprays, which could have an adverse effect on the consumers [...] Read more.
Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberries and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. Currently, the only accessible control methods are fungicide sprays, which could have an adverse effect on the consumers of the strawberries. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma spp. are frequently used as biological agents to prevent root rot in strawberries. In order to provide highly effective biocontrol resources for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism, the control effects of T. asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot, and the growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated using plate culture, microscopy observation, and root drenching methods. The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antimycotic, and hyperparasitic effects on N. clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rate of CMT10 against CMGF3 was 65.49% 7 d after co-culture. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolites and fermentation metabolites produced by CMT10 were 79.67% and 69.84% against CMGF3, respectively. The mycelium of CMT10 can act as a hyperparasite by contacting, winding, and penetrating the hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficiency of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.09%. CMT10 promoted strawberry growth, plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight, and root dry weight by 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82%, and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of T. asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and its potential to be developed as a novel biocontrol agent to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly and sustainable agriculture. Full article
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25 pages, 10852 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Potential Biocontrol Isolates of Trichoderma asperellum for Management of Collar Rot Disease in Tomato
by C. Shanmugaraj, Deeba Kamil, Aditi Kundu, Praveen Kumar Singh, Amrita Das, Zakir Hussain, Robin Gogoi, P. R. Shashank, R. Gangaraj and M. Chaithra
Horticulturae 2023, 9(10), 1116; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9101116 - 10 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1384
Abstract
Bio-control agents are the best alternative to chemicals for the successful management of plant diseases. Among them, Trichoderma is commonly used as a biological control agent in plant disease management due to its ability to suppress soil-borne plant pathogens. In the present study, [...] Read more.
Bio-control agents are the best alternative to chemicals for the successful management of plant diseases. Among them, Trichoderma is commonly used as a biological control agent in plant disease management due to its ability to suppress soil-borne plant pathogens. In the present study, 20 Trichoderma asperellum isolates were collected from different geographical locations and confirmed using morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic inferences based on combined ITS and β-tubulin sequences. All twenty isolates were screened for their antagonism against the collar rot pathogen under in vitro and in planta conditions. The isolates were evaluated through dual culture and volatile methods in an in vitro study. Isolate A10 inhibited the test pathogen Agroathelia rolfsii at 94.66% in a dual culture assay and 70.95% in a volatile assay, followed by the isolates A11 and A17, which recorded 82.64% and 81.19% in dual culture assay and 63.75% and 68.27% in the volatile assay respectively. An in planta study was conducted under greenhouse conditions in tomato var. pusa ruby by pre- and post-inoculation of T. asperellum isolates in the A. rolfsii infected soil to evaluate their antagonistic potential against the disease. The A10 isolate was found effective under both pre- and post-inoculation conditions, with a disease inhibition percent of 86.17 and 80.60, respectively, followed by the isolates A11 and A17, which exhibited inhibition of 77.80% and 75.00% in pre-inoculation and 72.22% and 69.44% in post-inoculation, respectively. Further, biochemical analysis was conducted to determine the specific activity of hydrolytic enzymes produced by T. asperellum during interaction with A. rolfsii. We found that isolate A10 produces more hydrolytic enzymes with the specific activity of 174.68 IU/mg of β-1,3 glucanase, 183.48 IU/mg of β-1, 4 glucanase, 106.06 IU/mg of protease, followed by isolate A17, A11 respectively. In GC-MS analysis, we observed maximum anti-microbial volatile organic compounds from the isolate A10, including 2H-Pyran-2-one (17.39%), which was found to be most abundant, followed by dienolactone (8.43%), α-pyrone (2.19%), and harziandione (0.24%) respective retention time of 33.48, 33.85, 33.39, and 64.23 min, respectively, compared to other isolates. In the TLC assay, we observed that a greater number of bands were produced by the A10 and A17 isolates in the Hexane: Ethyl Acetate (1:1) solvent system than in the 9:1 solvent system, which represents the presence of major metabolites in the ethyl acetate extract. Full article
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13 pages, 2108 KiB  
Article
The Isolation, Identification, and Insecticidal Activities of Indigenous Entomopathogenic Nematodes (Steinernema carpocapsae) and Their Symbiotic Bacteria (Xenorhabdus nematophila) against the Larvae of Pieris brassicae
by Preety Tomar, Neelam Thakur, Avtar Kaur Sidhu, Boni Amin Laskar, Abeer Hashem, Graciela Dolores Avila-Quezada and Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah
Horticulturae 2023, 9(8), 874; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9080874 - 01 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1162
Abstract
The cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), is an oligophagous and invasive insect pest of various economically important cole crops. Recently, there have been reports about an increase in the incidence and damaging activities of cabbage butterflies, signifying that the existing control [...] Read more.
The cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), is an oligophagous and invasive insect pest of various economically important cole crops. Recently, there have been reports about an increase in the incidence and damaging activities of cabbage butterflies, signifying that the existing control methods fail to meet the grower’s expectations. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) and their endosymbiotic bacteria have immense potential for the control of a wide range of insect pests. In this investigation, the EPN species Steinernema carpocapsae and its associated bacterial species, Xenorhabdus nematophila, were isolated and identified through morphological and molecular techniques. The laboratory bioassay experiment was performed using S. carpocapsae and X. nematophila against the 3rd instar larvae of P. brassicae (25 ± 1 °C; RH = 60%). The efficacy of EPN suspension (30, 60, 90, 120, 150 IJs/mL) and bacterial suspension (1 × 104, 2 × 104, 3 × 104, 4 × 104, and 5 × 104 CFU/mL) via contact and oral routes showed significant mortality among the larvae. Surprisingly, 100% insect mortality within 48 h was recorded in the bacterial inoculum 5 × 104 CFU/mL. However, in the case of EPNs (S. carpocapsae), 150 IJs/mL caused the highest, 92%, larval mortality rate after 96 h. The results signify that both indigenous EPNs and their associated bacteria can provide efficient control against P. brassicae larvae and could effectively contribute to IPM programs. However, further analyses are required to authenticate their effectiveness in field conditions. Full article
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23 pages, 3782 KiB  
Article
Two Bacterial Bioagents Boost Onion Response to Stromatinia cepivora and Promote Growth and Yield via Enhancing the Antioxidant Defense System and Auxin Production
by Hanan E. M. Osman, Yasser Nehela, Abdelnaser A. Elzaawely, Mohamed H. El-Morsy and Asmaa El-Nagar
Horticulturae 2023, 9(7), 780; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9070780 - 08 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1249
Abstract
White rot, caused by Stromatinia cepivora (Anamorph: Sclerotium cepivorum Berk), is a serious soil-borne disease of the onion that restricts its cultivation and production worldwide. Herein, we isolated and characterized a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from healthy onion roots and an endophytic [...] Read more.
White rot, caused by Stromatinia cepivora (Anamorph: Sclerotium cepivorum Berk), is a serious soil-borne disease of the onion that restricts its cultivation and production worldwide. Herein, we isolated and characterized a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from healthy onion roots and an endophytic bacterium Serratia liquefaciens from healthy bean leaves. Both isolates showed strong fungistatic activity against S. cepivora using the dual culture and culture filtrate methods. This effect might be due to the presence of several volatile compounds, especially menthol in both culture filtrates as shown with a GC-MS analysis. Additionally, the root drench application of cell-free culture filtrates of S. maltophilia and S. liquefaciens significantly reduced the incidence and severity of white rot disease on treated onion plants, which was associated with the activation of both enzymatic (POX and PPO) and non-enzymatic (phenolics and flavonoids) antioxidant defense machineries of S. cepivora-infected onion plants. Moreover, the culture filtrates of both bacterial bioagents remarkably enhanced the growth (as expressed by root length, plant height, and number of leaves) and yield parameters (as indicated by bulb circumference, fresh weight of the bulb, and bulb yield per plot) of treated onion plants under field conditions during two successive seasons (2020/2021 and 2021/2022). This might be because of a reduced disease severity and/or the accumulation of the main auxin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and its precursor, the amino acid tryptophan. Our findings suggest that both bioagents might be utilized as eco-friendly alternative control measures to reduce the utilization of chemical fungicides entirely or partially for the safer production of onion in S. cepivora-infested soils. Full article
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