Strawberries are an extremely perishable fruit mainly due to their soft texture and sensitivity to fungal infection. The fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea is responsible for grey mould on strawberries and is the main causal agent of postharvest decay and subsequent economic loss. As an alternative to fungicides, manipulation of plant nutrition, such as calcium and boron, has been suggested as a means of disease management. This project investigated the effects of calcium and boron application on fruit quality and grey mould development in strawberry. The effect of calcium on fruit quality, grey mould development and leaf blight in strawberry cultivars ‘Aromas’ and ‘Selva’ was investigated through preharvest and postharvest applications. To determine the effect of preharvest application, calcium sulphate in 0.25X strength Hoagland’s solution was applied at 0, 100, 300 and 500 ppm Ca through fertigation. Fully-ripened fruit were harvested and evaluated for postharvest quality at harvest and then after storage at 10⁰C, 90±5% RH for 2 to 10 days. Although fruit firmness of both cultivars declined slightly during storage, this was not affected by preharvest calcium application. Similarly, preharvest calcium treatment had no effect on the external appearance, pH, soluble solids content (SSC) or titratable acidity (TA). No grey mould development was observed on fruit at harvest when flowers were inoculated with a conidia suspension of B. cinerea (10⁴ conidia per mL). However, fruit harvested from plants that received calcium at any concentration had less incidence of grey mould during storage at 10⁰C, 90±5% RH for 14 days than fruit harvested from plants that received no calcium for both cultivars. For ‘Aromas’, 79% and 51% of fruit, and for ‘Selva’, 69% and 43% of fruit, showed rot when treated with 0 and 500 ppm Ca, respectively. The shelf life of ‘Aromas’ and ‘Selva’ increased by about 8% when plants received 500 ppm Ca in comparison with plants that received 0 ppm Ca. After 7 days of incubation at 22 to 24⁰C, there was no difference between blight lesions on wound-inoculated detached leaves from different calcium treatments for either cultivar. However, the lesions on ‘Selva’ were smaller than on ‘Aromas’. The calcium levels in leaves from plants that received calcium at any concentration were adequate for strawberry growing and significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in leaves from plants that received 0 ppm Ca. However, calcium treatment did not ensure transfer of calcium to fruit tissues. Calcium lactate and calcium chloride were used as postharvest calcium treatments at 1500, 3000 and 4500 ppm Ca. Fruit of ‘Selva’ were dipped in calcium solution for 5 min and wound-inoculated with B. cinerea (10⁶ conidia per mL). Calcium lactate and calcium chloride at 3000 and 4500 ppm Ca, respectively, were most effective in delaying Botrytis rot development on ‘Selva’ after 7 days of storage at 10⁰C, 90±5% RH. Storage for least 24 h after calcium dips prior to inoculation was required to delay the development of fruit rot. Fruit harvested early in the season seemed to be less susceptible to grey mould than those harvested later. However, calcium treatment tended to be more effective when applied to late-season fruit. Preharvest boron treatment, applied as for calcium but at 0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 ppm B, had no effect on fruit firmness of either cultivar. However, firmness of ‘Aromas’ fruit was slightly greater than ‘Selva’ fruit for all treatments. The amount of boron applied had no effect on the external appearance, pH, SSC or TA for either cultivar after storage of fruit for up to 10 days. Application of boron had no effect on fruit grey mould development in either cultivar. Furthermore, boron had minimal effect on the incidence of blight on woundinoculated detached leaves of ‘Aromas’ 7 days after inoculation. However, blight lesion diameters on ‘Selva’ leaves in the 1.0 ppm B treatment (8.0 mm) were significantly smaller (P < 0.001) than in the 0 ppm B treatment (13.0 mm). Phytotoxicity was observed in boron treatments even at the level considered optimum for strawberry growing. Severity increased with increasing boron concentration but no consistent effect on flower death or flower abortion was observed. In conclusion, strawberry is sensitive to boron toxicity. Calcium may enhance fruit firmness and, consequently, delay grey mould development if calcium penetrates the fruit. Postharvest calcium treatment tended to be more effective in delaying development of grey mould when applied to late-season fruit. Calcium lactate is a potential alternative to calcium chloride for reducing decay caused by B. cinerea in strawberry without providing undesirable bitterness. This finding may provide a basis for application in industry. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1331382 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine 2008

Strawberries are an extremely perishable fruit mainly due to their soft texture and sensitivity to fungal infection. The fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea is responsible for grey mould on strawberries and is the main causal agent of postharvest decay and subsequent economic loss. As an alternative to fungicides, manipulation of plant nutrition, such as calcium and boron, has been suggested as a means of disease management. This project investigated the effects of calcium and boron application on fruit quality and grey mould development in strawberry. The effect of calcium on fruit quality, grey mould development and leaf blight in strawberry cultivars ‘Aromas’ and ‘Selva’ was investigated through preharvest and postharvest applications. To determine the effect of preharvest application, calcium sulphate in 0.25X strength Hoagland’s solution was applied at 0, 100, 300 and 500 ppm Ca through fertigation. Fully-ripened fruit were harvested and evaluated for postharvest quality at harvest and then after storage at 10⁰C, 90±5% RH for 2 to 10 days. Although fruit firmness of both cultivars declined slightly during storage, this was not affected by preharvest calcium application. Similarly, preharvest calcium treatment had no effect on the external appearance, pH, soluble solids content (SSC) or titratable acidity (TA). No grey mould development was observed on fruit at harvest when flowers were inoculated with a conidia suspension of B. cinerea (10⁴ conidia per mL). However, fruit harvested from plants that received calcium at any concentration had less incidence of grey mould during storage at 10⁰C, 90±5% RH for 14 days than fruit harvested from plants that received no calcium for both cultivars. For ‘Aromas’, 79% and 51% of fruit, and for ‘Selva’, 69% and 43% of fruit, showed rot when treated with 0 and 500 ppm Ca, respectively. The shelf life of ‘Aromas’ and ‘Selva’ increased by about 8% when plants received 500 ppm Ca in comparison with plants that received 0 ppm Ca. After 7 days of incubation at 22 to 24⁰C, there was no difference between blight lesions on wound-inoculated detached leaves from different calcium treatments for either cultivar. However, the lesions on ‘Selva’ were smaller than on ‘Aromas’. The calcium levels in leaves from plants that received calcium at any concentration were adequate for strawberry growing and significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in leaves from plants that received 0 ppm Ca. However, calcium treatment did not ensure transfer of calcium to fruit tissues. Calcium lactate and calcium chloride were used as postharvest calcium treatments at 1500, 3000 and 4500 ppm Ca. Fruit of ‘Selva’ were dipped in calcium solution for 5 min and wound-inoculated with B. cinerea (10⁶ conidia per mL). Calcium lactate and calcium chloride at 3000 and 4500 ppm Ca, respectively, were most effective in delaying Botrytis rot development on ‘Selva’ after 7 days of storage at 10⁰C, 90±5% RH. Storage for least 24 h after calcium dips prior to inoculation was required to delay the development of fruit rot. Fruit harvested early in the season seemed to be less susceptible to grey mould than those harvested later. However, calcium treatment tended to be more effective when applied to late-season fruit. Preharvest boron treatment, applied as for calcium but at 0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 ppm B, had no effect on fruit firmness of either cultivar. However, firmness of ‘Aromas’ fruit was slightly greater than ‘Selva’ fruit for all treatments. The amount of boron applied had no effect on the external appearance, pH, SSC or TA for either cultivar after storage of fruit for up to 10 days. Application of boron had no effect on fruit grey mould development in either cultivar. Furthermore, boron had minimal effect on the incidence of blight on woundinoculated detached leaves of ‘Aromas’ 7 days after inoculation. However, blight lesion diameters on ‘Selva’ leaves in the 1.0 ppm B treatment (8.0 mm) were significantly smaller (P < 0.001) than in the 0 ppm B treatment (13.0 mm). Phytotoxicity was observed in boron treatments even at the level considered optimum for strawberry growing. Severity increased with increasing boron concentration but no consistent effect on flower death or flower abortion was observed. In conclusion, strawberry is sensitive to boron toxicity. Calcium may enhance fruit firmness and, consequently, delay grey mould development if calcium penetrates the fruit. Postharvest calcium treatment tended to be more effective in delaying development of grey mould when applied to late-season fruit. Calcium lactate is a potential alternative to calcium chloride for reducing decay caused by B. cinerea in strawberry without providing undesirable bitterness. This finding may provide a basis for application in industry. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1331382 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine 2008

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:37:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 776205 bytes, checksum: bdeb274d6dc080817dbbde35d5621b65 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Cucumber plants grown in greenhouse conditions are often infected by Botrytis cinerea, which causes the gray mold. The disease is controlled by successive applications of fungicides. In the perspective of integrated management of gray mold, we studied the effects of the interaction Clonostachys rosea, Silicon (Si) and Botrytis cinerea on disease severity. When Si and C. rosea were applied alone or together, the incubation period of disease was increased. When C. rosea was applied, the incubation period increased about 63h and gray mold severity and electrolyte leakage were significantly reduced. The application of either C. rosea or Si alone increased the activity of poliphenoloxidase, peroxidase, chitinase and &#946;-1,3- glucanase, and reduce disease severity, area under the curve of progress of disease (AUCPD), and rate of gray mold progress. The application of just C. rosea was promoted plant growth, considering the dry mass of root system, stem length and dry mass of stems. The antagonist colonized endophytically cucumber plants; the frequency of colonization was higher in the inoculated with B. cinerea then in the uninoculated plants. We conclude that C. rosea is a potential biological control agent of cucumber gray mold that can be endophytic and can promote the growth of cucumber plants. / Plantas de pepino sob cultivo protegido são frequentemente infectadas por Botrytis cinerea, que causa o mofo cinzento. Controla-se a doença com sucessivas aplicações de fungicidas. No contexto do manejo integrado do mofo cinzento, estudou-se o efeito da interação Clonostahcys rosea, Silício (Si) e B. cinerea na severidade da doença. Quando se aplicaram Si e C. rosea isolados ou em conjunto, aumentou-se o período de incubação da doença. Com a aplicação de C. rosea, o período de incubação aumentou-se em aproximadamente 63 h e se reduziram significativamente a severidade do mofo cinzento e o extravasamento de eletrólitos. Com a aplicação isolada de C. rosea ou de Si aumentou-se a atividade de polifenoloxidase, peroxidade, quitinase e &#946;-1,3-glucanase e reduziram-se a severidade, a área abaixo da curva do progresso da doença (AACPD) e a taxa de progresso do mofo cinzento. Quando se aplicou C. rosea isoladamente, ocorreu promoção do crescimento de plantas, considerando-se a massa seca do sistema radicular, o comprimento da parte aérea, e a massa seca da parte aérea. O antagonista colonizou plantas endofiticamente e a frequência de colonização foi maior nas plantas inoculadas com B. cinerea que nas não inoculadas. Conclui-se que C. rosea é um potencial agente de controle biológico do mofo cinzento do pepino, que pode ser endofítico em plantas de pepino e promover seu crescimento.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:37:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2148996 bytes, checksum: 0f782ede5a559058721ff442c36a8c2f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-16 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Ceratocystis fimbriata sensu lato (s.l.) is a complex of many species that are important pathogens of a large number of woody and herbaceous plants. One of this hosts is rubber tree (Hevea sp.), that is native to the Amazon and belong to the family Euphorbiacea. Rubber tree is grown in order to produce latex, the main raw material for obtaining natural rubber that is used in many different industries. Ceratocystis fimbriata infects the rubber tree panel, causing gray mold that affects latex production. C. fimbriata is considered now as a "species complex" containing cryptic species, and many of them remain undescribed. Thus, the aim of this work was to determine the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the fungus that causes gray mold in rubber tree in order to confirm whether it is a new species of fimbriata complex. For this, it was used 20 isolates obtained from rubber tree for analysis of genetic variability. Of these, four isolates were selected for morphological and phylogenetic analysis and of those, two isolates were used for pathogenicity tests. According to the sequences of ITS r-DNA, the isolates of C. fimbriata of rubber tree belong to the Latin American clade, with two ITS genotypes, that is related to their geographical origin. One genotype was originated from the state of Acre and the other one from the state of Bahia, which was also confirmed by microsatellite markers. The inoculations showed no specialization to the host, since they were pathogenic to different host species (mango, crotalaria, acacia, eucalyptus and kiwi). Therefore, according to the results of this work, the isolates of rubber tree belong to the Latin American clade and confirmed as C. fimbriata and not a distinct species. / Espécies do complexo Ceratocystis fimbriata sensu lato (s.l.) são importantes patógenos de um grande número de plantas arbóreas e herbáceas, dentre elas a seringueira (Hevea sp.), nativa da região amazônica e pertencente a família Euphorbiaceae. A seringueira é cultivada visando a produção do látex, a principal matéria prima para obtenção da borracha natural que é utilizada em diversos setores. Ceratocystis fimbriata infecta o painel da seringueira, causando uma doença conhecida como mofo cinzento que afeta negativamente a produção de látex. Ceratocystis fimbriata s.l. considerado, atualmente, como um complexo de espécies contendo várias espécies crípticas, muitas das quais ainda não descritas. Deste modo, objetivou-se com este trabalho, determinar a morfologia, o relacionamento filogenético e especificidade de hospedeiro do fungo causador do mofo cinzento em seringueira, de modo a confirmar se é uma nova espécie do complexo fimbriata. Para isso, foram utilizados 20 isolados de seringueira para análise de variabilidade genética. Dentre estes, quatro isolados foram selecionados para análises morfológicas e filogenéticas e destes, dois foram utilizados para testes de patogenicidade. De acordo com as sequências de ITS r-DNA analisadas, os isolados de C. fimbriata de seringueira pertencem ao clado da América Latina, com dois genótipos de ITS, de acordo com a origem geográfica, sendo eles originados do Estado do Acre e o outro do Estado da Bahia, também confirmados por análises de microssatélites. As inoculações mostraram que não há especialização, quanto ao hospedeiro, uma vez que foram patogênicos a diferentes espécies hospedeiras (manga, crotalária, acácia, eucalipto e kiwi). Portanto, de acordo com os resultados deste trabalho, os isolados de seringueira pertencem ao clado da América Latina e são confirmados como C. fimbriata e não uma espécie distinta.

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