Mucor Rot-An Emerging Postharvest Disease of Mandarin Fruit Caused by Mucor piriformis and other Mucor spp. in California

摘要

In recent years, an emerging, undescribed postharvest disease was observed on mandarin fruit after extended storage in California. We collected decayed mandarin fruit from three citrus packinghouses in the Central Valley of California in 2015 and identified this disease as Mucor rot caused by Mucor spp. Mucor rot occurred in 11 of the 15 grower lots sampled, and the percentage of Mucor rot in the total decayed fruit varied among affected grower lots, ranging from 3.3 to 93.1% with an average of 49.2%. In total, 197 isolates of Mucor spp. were obtained from decayed mandarin fruit and identified based on internal transcribed spacer sequence and morphological characteristics. Of the 197 isolates, 182 (92.4%) were identified as Mucor piriformis, 7 (3.6%) were M. circinelloides (6 M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus and 1 M. circinelloides f. circinelloides), 4 (2%) were M. racemosus f. racemosus, 3 (1.5%) were M hiemalis, and 1 (0.5%) was M. mucedo. All species grew at 0 and 5 degrees C, except M. circinelloides, which did not grow at 0 degrees C. Mycelia' growth was arrested at 27 degrees C for M. piriformis; 35 degrees C for M. racemosus f. racemosus, M. circinelloides f lusitanicus, M. hiemalis and M. mucedo; and 37 degrees C for M. circinelloides f. circinelloides. Optimal mycelial growth occurred at 20 degrees C for M. pinfornzis and M. mucedo, 25 degrees C for M. racemosus f. racemosus and M. hiemalis, 27 C for M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus, and 30 degrees C for M. circinelloides f. circinelloides. M. piriformis grew significantly faster than the other four species at 5 and 20 degrees C, and M. nzucedo was the slowest in growth among the five species. Sporangiospores of M. piriformis, M. racemosus f. racemosus, and M. hiemalis germinated at both 5 and 20 degrees C. M. circinelloides germinated at 20 degrees C but did not germinate at 5 degrees C after incubation for 48 h. All five Mucor spp. caused decay on mandarin fruit inoculated with the fungi, and the lesion size caused by M. piriformis was significantly larger than that caused by other species at both 5 and 20 degrees C. Our results indicated that Mucor rot in mandarin fruit in California is caused by Mucor spp. consisting of M. piriformis, M. circinelloides, M. racemosus f. racemosus, M. hiemalis, and M. mucedo, with M. piriformis being the dominant and most virulent species. Previously, M. racemosus was reported on citrus. This is the first report of Mucor rot in citrus caused by M. piriformis, M. circinelloides, M. hiemalis, and M. mucedo.