title: The ability of a cold-adapted Rhodotorula mucilaginosa strain from Tibet to control blue mold in pear fruit.
abstract: Cold-adapted yeasts were isolated from soil samples collected in Tibet and evaluated as potential biocontrol agents against blue mold (Penicillium expansum) of pear fruit in cold storage. YC1, an isolate identified as Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, was found to exhibit the greatest biocontrol activity among the different isolates that were screened. A washed cell suspension of YC1 exhibited the best biocontrol activity among three different preparations that were used in the current study. A concentration of 10(8) cells/ml reduced the incidence of decay to 35 %, compared to the control where decay incidence was 100 %. A higher intracellular level of trehalose and a higher proportion of polyunsaturated acids present in YC1, was associated with increased the tolerance of this strain to low temperatures, relative to the other strains that were evaluated. The increased tolerance to low temperature allowed the YC1 strain of yeast to more effectively compete for nutrients and space in wounded pear fruit that had been inoculated with spores of P. expansum and placed in cold storage. The present study demonstrated the ability to select cold-adapted yeasts from cold climates and use them as biocontrol agents of postharvest diseases of fruit placed in cold storage.
authors.affiliation: College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Fujie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: World Food Preservation Center LLC, Box 1629, 345 Shveda Way, Shepherdstown, WV, 25443, USA.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. xdzheng@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development*; D056265:Microbial Interactions; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D031989:Pyrus / Q000382:microbiology*; D012248:Rhodotorula / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018609:Tibet
keywords: Biocontrol; Pear; Postharvest; Rhodotorula mucilaginosa; Tibet