[en] AbstractMicrobial activity is a primary cause of postharvest deterioration in fresh-eating jujubes, but the mechanisms underlying microbiota-driven decay remain poorly defined. This study investigated the dynamics of endophytic and epiphytic microbial communities on jujube fruit and identified key taxa associated with spoilage during ambient temperature storage. Storage trials revealed that ‘Jingcang 1’ cultivar exhibits poor storability, characterized by rapid color change and early onset of decay. High-throughput sequencing analysis demonstrated that alterations in composition and structure of the fungal communities were more pronounced than those of bacterial communities. Both fungal diversity and richness fluctuated throughout the decay stages, and these shifts were strongly associated with specific key microbial genera, indicating their potential importance in community succession. Multiple approaches, including linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe), SPEC-OCCU, and co-occurrence network analysis, consistently identified Aspergillus as a key biomarker genus. A total of 47 isolates were obtained from decayed tissue via pure culture methods. Phylogenetic analysis of their ITS sequences classified all isolates into 13 Aspergillus species, a result consistent with the microbiome data. In vivo pathogenicity assays confirmed that all 13 species were pathogenic to jujube fruit, albeit with varying levels of virulence. Notably, three species, A. piperis, A. luchuensis and A. aflatoxiformans, are newly reported here as causal agents of jujube decay. Our findings elucidate the dynamics of the microbial ecosystem during jujube fruit decay and provide a critical foundation for developing safe, effective, and targeted biocontrol strategies.
Disciplines :
Biotechnology
Author, co-author :
Wang, Jian-Yu; Shandong Institute of Pomology, Shandong, China
Jiao, Ke-Xin; College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong, China
Mao, Min-Xin; Shandong Institute of Pomology, Shandong, China
Li, Cheng-Gang; Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong, China
Qu, Jianping ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Entomologie, Phytopathologie et Productions Innovantes (EPPI) ; College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong, China
Zhou, Bo; College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong, China
Zhang, Qian; Shandong Institute of Pomology, Shandong, China ; Jujube Industry Research Institute of Maigaiti County, Kashgar, China
Hao, Qing; Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetable, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Urumqi, China ; Jujube Industry Research Institute of Maigaiti County, Kashgar, China
Language :
English
Title :
Fungal community succession drives the decay of jujube fruit (Ziziphus jujuba Mill. cv. Jingcang 1) during ambient storage
This work was supported by the Kashgar Science and Technology Plan ( KS2024042 ); the Agriculture Research System of China (CARS-30); the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation ( ZR2025QC301 ); the Earmarked Fund of Xinjiang Jujube Industrial Technology System ( XJLGCYJSTX02 ); the Youth Engineering Project of Shandong Institute of Pomology ( 2023GSKY06 ).
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