Development of Novel Tools to Manage Fungal Plant Pathogens That Cause Postharvest Decay of Pome Fruit to Reduce Food Waste

Objective 1: Identify key genes regulating virulence and toxin production in Penicillium species, the causal agents of blue mold, to develop novel gene or protein targets for control in commercially stored pome fruit. Sub-objective 1.A: Identify new Penicillium spp. virulence and toxin biosynthetic genes via comparative genomics and transcriptomics. Sub-objective 1.B: Characterize fungal virulence and toxin genes in Penicillium spp. using a targeted gene deletion approach. Objective 2: Integrate genomic-based strategies and evaluate novel tools to manage postharvest blue mold decay in commercial storage caused by Penicillium species on pome fruit. Sub-objective 2.A: Determine difenoconazole baseline sensitivity and characterize resistant blue mold isolates. Sub-objective 2.B: Identify Penicillium spp. genes associated with difenoconazole resistance and develop a molecular-based detection system.