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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Chemical composition of cuticular waxes during fruit development of Pingguoli pear and their potential role on early events of Alternaria alternata infection

Yongcai Li A B , Yan Yin A , Songjiang Chen A , Yang Bi A and Yonghong Ge A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Food Science and Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730 070, PR China.

B Corresponding author. Email: liyongcai@gsau.edu.cn

Functional Plant Biology 41(3) 313-320 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP13184
Submitted: 23 April 2013  Accepted: 19 August 2013   Published: 30 September 2013

Abstract

To elucidate the role of fruit wax in fungal infection, changes in chemical composition of wax during fruit development of Pingguoli pear, and their role in Alternaria alternata infection were studied. Results showed that wax content increased during fruit development. Fruit harvested 130 days after full bloom (DAFB) had a peak wax content that was eight times higher than from fruit at 100 DAFB. There were differences in the relative chain-length distribution of wax classes during development. Alkanes were major components during early development, whereas alkanes and triterpenoids predominated during late development. Results of in vitro tests showed that conidial germination and mycelial growth of A. alternata could be inhibited by wax extracted from the fruit surface at different developmental stages. These results shed new light on the chemical basis for wax involvement in fungal infection.

Additional keywords: antifungal activity, fruit cuticle, postharvest pathogen.


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