Identification of Colletotrichum horii Isolated from Postharvest Fig Anthracnose and Its Control by Bacillus velezensis

Abstract

Anthracnose, a common postharvest fungal disease of fruits, can cause severe economic losses. A pathogenic strain named FC.006 was isolated from postharvest anthracnose of ‘Browns Wick’ figs by the traditional fungal isolation method. FC.006 was identified as Colletotrichum horii by morphological observation, multigene sequence identification and phylogenetic tree analysis. In order to investigate a biological control method for FC.006, the control effect of the biocontrol agent Bacillus velezensis RD.006 on FC.006 in vitro and infected figs was evaluated. The results showed that the inhibition rate of FC.006 by RD.006 was 85% when co-cultured in vitro for 8 days. RD.006 had good disease control effect on figs infected with FC.006, and significantly increased the expression of the FcPAL, Fc4CL, FcC4H, FcCAT, FcAPX, and FcPOD genes at the early stage after inoculation (P < 0.05). To sum up, C. horii FC.006 can cause fig anthracnose, and Bacillus velezensis RD.006 can effectively control postharvest anthracnose in figs through direct antibiosis and induction of fruit disease resistance.

Keywords

• fig; anthracnose; bacillus velezensis; biological control