Maleic acid and malonic acid reduced the pathogenicity of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum by inhibiting mycelial growth, sclerotia formation and virulence factors

Abstract

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungus with broad distribution and host range. Bioactive compounds derived from plant extracts have been proven to be effective in controlling S. sclerotiorum. In this study, the mycelial growth of S. sclerotiorum was effectively inhibited by maleic acid, malonic acid, and their combination at a concentration of 2 mg/mL, with respective inhibition rates of 32.5%, 9.98%, and 67.6%. The treatment of detached leaves with the two acids resulted in a decrease in lesion diameters. Interestingly, maleic acid and malonic acid decreased the number of sclerotia while simultaneously increasing their weight. The two acids also disrupted the cell structure of sclerotia, leading to sheet-like electron-thin regions. On a molecular level, maleic acid reduced oxalic acid secretion, upregulated the expression of Ss-Odc2 and downregulated CWDE10, Ss-Bi1 and Ss-Ggt1. Differently, malonic acid downregulated CWDE2 and Ss-Odc1. These findings verified that maleic acid and malonic acid could effectively inhibit S. sclerotiorum, providing promising evidence for the development of an environmentally friendly biocontrol agent.

Keywords

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum / Maleic acid / Malonic acid / Inhibition

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Funding

open funds of the State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Micro-biology(AMLKF202009); the Opening Fund of Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Bi-ology, Ministry of Education(FECBOF2021006); the Opening Project of Fujian Provincial Key Lab of Coastal Basin Environment (Fujian Polytechnic Normal University)(S1-KF2110); Key Labora-tory of Se-enriched Products Development and Quality Control, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/ National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Se-enriched Food Development(Se-2021A01); the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Testing and Evaluation for Agro-product Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs(NK201702); the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(2021CFB489); the Opening Project of Fujian Universities and Colleges Engineering Research Center of Modern Facility Agriculture(G2-KF2007)