The preharvest application of Aureobasidium pullulans S2 remodeled the microbiome of tomato surface and reduced postharvest disease incidence of tomato fruit

Microbial communities associated with plants are vital to regulating plant growth and controlling disease, although their potential functions have not been fully explained. The study of plant microbiome can help understand the microbial community structure. Thus, directional induction and remodeling microbial communities could reduce postharvest diseases and preserve fruit quality. This study employed high-throughput sequencing to determine whether the fungal and bacterial communities on tomato surface were changed due to preharvest treatment with Aureobasidium pullulans S2. At the same time, postharvest diseases, fruit quality, and surface microbial communities were examined during storage. The results showed that with the preharvest application of A. pullulans S2, significant changes were observed in fungal and bacterial communities of tomato during storage, including an increased fungal alpha diversity, shifts in community composition and structure (removed the abundance of Aureobasidium). Several potentially beneficial genera, Papiliotrema, Oidiodendron, Chloridium, Simplicillium, Methylobacterium and Acinetobacter, were found by analysis of the relationship between microbial taxa with fruit decay incidence and significantly enriched genera in the treatment group during storage. The functions of these taxa on tomatoes require further investigation, which will be helpful for directional regulation of the microbial composition in fruit and vegetables to achieve sustainable disease control strategies.

Automated summary

Microbial communities associated with plants play a vital role in plant growth regulation and disease control. This study investigated the effects of preharvest treatment with Aureobasidium pullulans S2 on the fungal and bacterial communities on tomato surfaces, and found that it significantly altered the microbial composition and potentially beneficial genera. Further research is needed to understand the functions of these taxa and utilize them for targeted microbial manipulation in fruits and vegetables.