TITLE:
Behavior of the Fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz & Sacc.), Which Causes Bitter Rot in Apples after Harvesting
AUTHORS:
Sideney Becker Onofre, Dirlane Antoniazzi
KEYWORDS:
Diseases; Biotechnology; Phytopathogens; Fungi; Pathology
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.4 No.4,
March
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: The apple is the second most important fruit
in Brazil. However, apple cultivars are susceptible to several diseases that
can cause losses after harvesting. Bitter rot is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and is
one of the most damaging summer diseases. The goal of this work was to evaluate
the behavior of this fungus in four apple cultivars grown in Brazil (Fuji,
Gala, Golden and Green) under two treatments: direct inoculation and isolated
fungus. The fungus was isolated by taking fragments from infected fruits, which
were stored on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) in a laboratory. For the direct
treatment, the fungus was removed from infected fruits and directly inoculated
into healthy fruits. After inoculation, the fruits were kept at room
temperature and the halos of degradation were evaluated every 48 hours. The
results demonstrated that direct inoculation was more pathogenic, that the Gala
cultivar was the most resistant to the pathogen, and that the Golden cultivar
was the most susceptible.