Imagine a world where apples, those juicy, delicious fruits, are threatened by invisible enemies - fungi that cause rot. It's a serious issue, leading to food waste and economic losses. But here's the twist: scientists are fighting back with a powerful tool called metabarcoding.
The Battle Against Rot
Rot development in stored apples is a problem that has puzzled researchers and fruit storage facilities alike. Many types of fungi, both pre- and post-harvest, can cause this rot. The question arises: can these fungal spores spread through the water used for sorting apples, infecting healthy ones?
Unveiling the Latent Threat
NIBIO researchers, led by Dalphy O. C. Harteveld, are on a mission to uncover the truth. "Many fungi cause diseases during storage. The apples look perfect when harvested, but after a few months, rot spots appear, leading to food waste," Harteveld explains. These fungi often lie dormant on the apples, waiting for the right conditions to strike.
The Sorting Process
During sorting, apples are gently emptied into water, then transported through channels for size and color sorting. Rotten apples are ideally removed first. Harteveld adds, "We're investigating whether these fungi are present in the transport water and sorting lines."
DNA: The Ultimate Detective
NIBIO researchers employ metabarcoding, a DNA-based method. It allows them to identify multiple microorganisms simultaneously, without the need for laboratory culturing. "Metabarcoding gives us a complete microbial community picture," Harteveld says.
From Orchard to Lab
The team followed apples from the field, recording diseases at harvest and after storage. They examined the connection between fruit rot and fungi in the water. Some water samples were cultured, while others underwent PCR and sequencing analysis. "Metabarcoding can detect fungal species in water that are hard to culture. It's a promising method," Harteveld notes.
Unraveling the Microbial Mystery
While metabarcoding provides a comprehensive view, it doesn't yet identify all organisms at the species level. However, it offers a crucial starting point for further investigation. "There are many bacterial and fungal species, and they interact. This project aims to detect multiple fruit rot-causing fungi simultaneously, and it seems promising," Harteveld explains.
Understanding Microbial Influence
Researchers are now studying how the microbial community affects symptom development. "We're comparing apple peels of two varieties at harvest and after storage to see if microbes differ between healthy and rotting apples," Harteveld adds. They're also using bioinformatics and AI to analyze DNA data from metabarcoding.
The Future of Metabarcoding
The goal is to refine metabarcoding into a precise tool for detecting multiple fungal infections in apples simultaneously. Researchers aim to study how these fungi are influenced by factors like microbial communities, climate change, and plant protection practices. "We're building a methodology for apple-relevant fungal species. Understanding and correctly using the technology is crucial to realizing its full potential," Harteveld concludes.
And this is the part most people miss: the potential of metabarcoding to revolutionize how we detect and combat fungal infections in apples. What do you think? Could this be a game-changer in the fight against food waste and crop diseases?
