Phytopathology (2008) 98, 1261-1270

D.V. de Felice, M. Solfrizzo, F. De Curtis, G. Lima, A. Visconti and R. Castoria (2008)
Strains of Aureobasidium pullulans can lower ochratoxin A contamination in wine grapes
Phytopathology 98 (12), 1261-1270
Abstract: Wine contamination with ochratoxin A (OTA) is due to the attack of wine grapes by ochratoxigenic Aspergillus carbonarius and Aspergillus spp. section Nigri. Four A. pullulans strains, AU14-3-1, AU18-3B, AU34-2, and LS30, are resistant to and actively degrade ochratoxin A in vitro. The less toxic ochratoxin alpha and the aminoacid L-ß-phenylalanine were the major degradation products, deriving from the cleavage of the amide bond linking these two moieties of OTA. The same strains were studied further as biocontrol agents of A. carbonarius on wine grapes in laboratory experiments. Three of the four strains significantly prevented infections by A. carbonarius. Berries pretreated with the biocontrol agents and infected with A. carbonarius contained lower amounts of OTA as compared to the untreated infected control berries. Two of these strains were shown to degrade OTA to ochratoxin alpha in fresh grape must, but the mechanisms of the decrease of OTA accumulation in infected berries pretreated with the biocontrol agents remain to be elucidated. Assessment of one strain carried out in the vineyard during the growing season of 2006 showed that the tested strain was an effective biocontrol agent, reducing both severity of Aspergillus rots and OTA accumulation in wine grapes. To our knowledge this is the first report describing the positive influence of biocontrol agents on OTA accumulation in this crop species.
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Database assignments for author(s): Raffaello Castoria, Filippo De Curtis, Giuseppe Lima

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
evaluation - screening - selection

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aspergillus niger	Grapevine (Vitis)
	Aspergillus carbonarius	Grapevine (Vitis)
Aureobasidium pullulans (antagonist)	Aspergillus niger	Grapevine (Vitis)
Aureobasidium pullulans (antagonist)	Aspergillus carbonarius	Grapevine (Vitis)