Horticulture: predicting strawberry fruit infection by Mucor and Rhizopus using climatic conditions and pathogen inoculum levels

在过去的25年里，英国的软果产量增长了600%，现在价值超过15亿英镑。草莓采后的损失主要是由三种真菌引起的：灰葡萄孢、毛霉。和根霉属（Rhizopus spp.）由于水果腐烂造成的经济损失不是由于直接损失了可销售的水果，而是由于如果在一批水果中发现一个腐烂的水果，则主要是由于拒收整批水果。草莓上的灰霉病在世界范围内得到了很好的研究。管理B。在包括英国在内的一些国家，使用病害预测模型可以有效地实现对露地草莓的灰霉病的控制。在受保护的种植系统下，英国最近的研究表明，收获后快速去除田间热量和随后的冷却链管理足以管理灰霉病，而无需使用杀菌剂，类似于管理受保护的树莓作物上的灰霉病。这是因为几乎所有的作物损失都是由于B。设施栽培下的灰霉病是由于收获后腐烂发展为潜伏感染所致。相反，毛霉和根霉都能感染水果，并迅速导致可见的收获前水果腐烂，因此，收获前的管理干预可能是必要的两种病原体。然而，目前还没有足够的知识来预测和管理毛霉和根霉对草莓的感染，本项目旨在填补由毛霉和根霉引起的软腐病流行病学的知识空白。具体而言，它有三个具体目标：（1）收集根霉和毛霉感染草莓果实的田间数据;（2）开发、验证和最终确定预测根霉和毛霉感染草莓果实风险的模型;（3）开发和计划商业项目合作伙伴使用的模型实施一旦实施，种植者可以使用该模型进行有针对性的疾病管理。

Over the past 25 years soft fruit production has grown by 600% in the UK and is now valued at > £1.5 billion. Postharvest strawberry losses in particular are largely caused by three fungal pathogens: Botrytis cinerea, Mucor spp. and Rhizopus spp. Economic losses due to fruit rotting do not result from the direct loss of marketable fruit but due primarily to the rejection of whole consignment of fruit if a single rotting fruit is detected in the consignment.Epidemiology and management of B. cinerea on strawberry is well studied worldwide. Managing B. cinerea on strawberry grown in open field can be effectively achieved with the use of disease forecasting models as demonstrated in a number of countries, including UK. Under protected cropping systems, recent research in the UK has demonstrated that rapid removal of field heat after harvesting and subsequent cool-chain management are sufficient to manage grey mould without the need to use fungicides, similar to managing grey mould on protected raspberry crops. This is because nearly all crop losses due to B. cinerea under protected cropping result from post-harvest rot development of latent infections. In contrast, as both Mucor and Rhizopus can infect fruit and rapidly lead to visual, pre-harvest fruit decay, pre-harvest management intervention may thus be necessary for the two pathogens. Currently there is, however, insufficient knowledge to predict and manage the infection of Mucor and Rhizopus on strawberry.This project aims to fill the knowledge gap on the epidemiology of soft rot caused by Mucor and Rhizopus. Specifically, it has three specific objectives: (1) To collect field data on the infection of fruit by Rhizopus and Mucor;(2) To develop, validate and finalise models predicting the risk of infection of strawberry fruit by Rhizopus and Mucor;(3) To develop and plan model implementation for use by the commercial project partner (Berry Garden Growers).Once implemented, the model can be used by growers for targeted disease management.